


Bicycle Flavored Ice Cream

by words_reign_here



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Isaac didn't leave, M/M, Multi, Puppy Piles, Sleepy Times, Teacher Stiles, actually like most of the time, alpha!Derek, apparently i owe people fluff, boys are blind sometimes, but a lot of its fluff, erica boyd and allison didn't die, for what i've done to them, good guy finally derek hale, let me have my happy place, so this is like my apology fic to you, so this is mostly fluff, teacher!stiles, yeah there's violence because that's me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 04:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4087720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek finally has everything where it should be. His pack is good, strong, back from college and they are a cohesive team. Other than the occasional witch, hunters and blip in the road, this is what it should have always been like. A pack in the Hale house, watching out for Beacon Hills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bicycle Flavored Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> So after my last fic I had to write something to make me happy. That's what you've got in your hands now. This is my apology. It's fluffy with a little action, a little violence. A pack fic because they are my weakness and Sterek makes me happy. So very little angst you might be asking yourself if this is the same author.  
> I really needed to make myself feel better.  
> So I hope you have fun with this and will forgive me any transgression from the last fic I wrote.

The first death the pack faced that had nothing to do with the supernatural was Lydia’s parents. They were killed during the winter when they hit a patch of ice and lost control of their car and hit an oncoming truck.

Lydia was twenty three and alone.

…but to say she was alone wasn't entirely accurate. She had her friends, or more accurately, she had her pack. Friends was too light of a term for what they were together, the bonds they had formed in the years since high school. They stood with her, next to the grave of her parents, in the freezing cold. They made a solid line behind Lydia after the other guests had left, and the grave diggers began shoveling in the dirt. They didn’t prod her to move on, they didn’t even speak while Lydia watched the men pile dirt into the side by side coffins. She watched for a long time, terms and facts running through her head as quickly as they ever had.

The pack waited for her to make the first move. And when she dropped her hand and held it out behind her, it didn’t matter to who, just a warm hand to hold hers, to remind her that she was on earth, with her pack. Allison stepped forward at Derek’s nod and slipped her hand into Lydia’s.

“We’re here.” She whispered. Allison hooked her chin over Lydia’s shoulder and stayed close. Lydia nodded and pressed her lips together. Through the visiting relatives and making arrangements, she had been holding herself together well and no one had yet to see her break down. She held her other hand out and Derek nudged Isaac forward.

“We got you.” Isaac murmured, taking her hand in both of his, warming her cool skin in his warm hands. Lydia nodded once more. Scott, Erica and Boyd held themselves back, waiting for a sign to move to her, not wanting to push it. When they heard her heart speed up and they smelled the tears gathering in her eyes, they all stepped forward, gathering around her. Derek and Stiles were last, closing in a tight circle around her. She finally let the tears spill over and gasped at the onslaught of emotion that she felt, the memories that raced through her mind, the last words she had spoken to her parents. She reached blindly through her pack until she found Derek and leaned into him. He pulled her in close and she held him tightly by his jacket, burying her face in his chest; the closest thing she had to a father or brother now.

“We’re here.” He muttered. “We aren’t going anywhere.” He leaned down and put his forehead to hers, the most common way Stiles had seen Derek show affection and comfort to his pack members. “Let’s take you home.” Derek turned and nodded to Scott who left to go get the huge SUV Derek drove when everyone was around. Allison took up one side of Lydia and Isaac the other. She was shaking and Isaac draped his jacket around her shoulders and picked her up. Stiles couldn’t tell if she was shaking from the emotions she had held at bay for so long or if it was just cold.

To get where they were now, communicating more or less by nods and gestures for the humans, smells and protocol for the wolves, was a long and bumpy road. Derek had taken to being an alpha just as well as everyone thought he would (which was not well at all) and after much democratic talk and threats and the occasional spell casting and threat of cessation, the pack had come together better than anyone had thought they would. Derek led them easily now, his pack falling in line behind him. And this was one of the times when Derek led them easily; he knew the hurt and the loss that Lydia felt. He could smell it on her and as Alpha did what was most instinctive in him. He catered to her, let her lean into him, showed her a special amount of affection that was only reserved for life and death situations. Scott pulled the SUV up to them and Isaac climbed in the back easily, still holding Lydia. On one side, Erica was there, speaking to Lydia softly and petting her hair. Boyd was on the other side, a hand on her ankle. Stiles sat in the back with Allison and Scott and Derek took the front. They didn’t go to Lydia’s house; rather they all went to the Hale house where most of the pack resided now. That’s where Lydia would be staying, in the attic that Scott and Isaac and Boyd had just finished furnishing for her.

There, in the house, they gathered in the front room where there was a Christmas tree stuffed with presents to and from everyone. There was a long couch, long enough to accommodate the pack when they gathered there to study or just to hang out. Upstairs Scott and Allison and Isaac had their own room. Lydia did too, now. Erica had her own room Boyd did too. Derek had his own room too, more or less. The pack often wandered in or out, looking for him, or just needing to be close to him. He didn’t always let them, this was Derek after all, and Derek needed some alone time, but he was getting better at it.

Stiles was the only one that didn’t live in the Hale house. He lived a couple miles away in an old Victorian house where the sweetest witch the pack had ever met let him have a studio apartment at a ridiculously low rate. He told the pack that it was easier to get to work from there but sometimes it felt like he didn’t always belong. And sometimes, Stiles did need to be away. He was the only human in the pack and he didn’t always feel-

Well, that was neither here nor there.

At the moment they were gathered in the front room, Lydia’s head pillowed on Erica’s thigh, Allison curled up in front of her, speaking to her in low tones. Scott sat on the floor in front of them, Boyd next to Erica. Derek was in the kitchen, watching Stiles make tea and Isaac was upstairs getting pajamas and pillows and blankets. It looked to be another night where they slept in the front room, all of them in a mass of warmth and love. These sorts of gatherings happened when they needed it, usually after a fight, usually when someone (or several someones) were wounded.

“Are you staying?” Derek asked quietly while Stiles squeezed some honey into a mug of chamomile.

“Yeah.” Stiles said softly and looked up at Derek. “Is that good?”

Derek had no idea if he was talking about the honey or him staying. “Yeah, that’s good. I’ve got some of your pajamas in a drawer in my room.”

Stiles smiled at him and patted his chest gently as he walked by. “Thanks, big guy.”

Hours later, Derek found himself in a nest with sleeping people everywhere around him. Lydia was next to him, on her side, facing him. Her fingers were loosely entwined in his. Stiles was on the other side of him, arms wrapped around his hips, face pillowed on his stomach. The rest of his pack stretched out on either side of him. This was part of what brought them closer together, Derek letting them in, letting them closer. It tore at his walls and had sent him reeling back into his own shell more than once but now, here he was. Alpha of a pack that was more than just wolves; more than just family. They were closer than that. They were his. And he was theirs.

The snow fell, Stiles tightened his grip on Derek and muttered something about bacon and Derek closed his eyes.

~~~

It was spring and the fourth graders were finally easing up on Stiles. He could hold out the end of the year field trip to the swimming pool as incentive for them behave and he felt like he was able to get a little sanity back. It helped that the pack was often volunteering in his classroom to ease the pressures of testing and meeting performance reviews.

“I’m not sure why they have to review _him_.” Derek muttered to Boyd one day over lunch. They were sitting at a small cafe, burgers and fries ordered. “His students come through year after year. Why don’t they look to that asshole down the hall?”

Boyd watched him with wide eyes and shrugged. “Not sure, Derek. But you can’t alpha your way through the whole world. The whole world isn’t your pack.”

“My whole world is the pack.” Derek huffed and then paused. The words had come to him easily which was terrifying and amazing all at once; Derek wasn’t one to express emotions. Allison would be proud. Boyd stopped, his sandwich halfway to his mouth before Derek continued on, “It’s stupid. He’s an amazing teacher.”

“We all know that.” Boyd said and sat back as the waitress brought their plates out. “Are you going to do anything for his birthday?”

“Probably just the usual.” Derek said.

“Pizza, beer and cake. Tomorrow night.” Boyd nodded. “Hell yeah. Sleepover times are awesome.”

Derek looked up at his beta, surprised. He didn’t think that Boyd was so much for the sleepovers. He didn’t think Boyd was so much for anything but the moon, burgers and Erica. “Really?” Derek said, quirking an eyebrow. Their eyes flew to the window as the bell sounded for early release. They watched the kids stream out of the school to the buses or their parents. Derek felt a pull as he saw one young kid bump into Stiles affectionately and he laughed.

“I love the sleepovers.” Boyd said, nodding at the window. Stiles was crossing the road, his tattered brown messenger bag over his shoulder. Boyd raised a hand and Stiles nodded at them. “It’s like- I don’t know. It’s like weight lifting but better. I don’t know how to explain it.” Boyd paused, chewing slowly and thoughtfully. Stiles slid in next to Derek and handed him his bag. Derek put it on the other side of him and Boyd tracked the movements with his eyes before finally speaking. “It’s like the pack becomes _more_ pack than what it was.”

“Sleepovers?” Stiles asked as the waitress appeared and set his burger down in front of him.

“Your birthday is this weekend.” Derek reminded him.

“No.” Stiles said and turned on his phone. “Holy shit it is. I’ve been so obsessed with testing and the reviews- I forgot my own birthday.”

“Birthday sleepover.” Boyd declared.

“I’m all in. All weekend.” Stiles turned to Derek and nudged him with his shoulder, jostling Derek gently. “What’d you get me for my birthday, big guy?”

Derek raised an eyebrow and Boyd waited for Derek to snap at Stiles. Wolf or not, Stiles was still a beta and pushing around the alpha like that- it just wasn’t a thing that _happened_.

“I’m not telling you.” Derek snorted.

Boyd took another bite and didn’t say a word.

~~~

Lydia was hanging up the fairy lights and Scott was pinning a blanket to a wall. Allison was holding another one aloft on Boyd’s shoulders and Isaac and Erica mirrored their position from the opposite of the room.

Derek stopped and looked in on them, his mouth wide open as though he were going to say something. He was speechless though. The room was hazy, warm and smelled like vanilla.

“I asked Stiles what he wanted his theme to be and he said a pillow fort and I thought he was kidding-” Lydia started.

“But when we were little, Stiles’ mom used to make us these forts with old Christmas lights and cushions and sometimes we could squeeze our little TV in there-” Scott picked up.

“So I said that we should just drag everything in here, set up your projector, do movies and food all night-” Erica continued.

“And then we realized that you know, we aren’t five anymore we have to up our pillow fort game-” Allison interjected.

“So that’s why all the mattresses are down here-” Isaac said.

“Along with every single blanket we own that’s pinned to the wall.” Boyd finished up.

Derek paused and looked up. Sheets were draped from the wall, falling in waves. Fairy lights that often adorned the girls room were strung up next to them and there was already a large selection of Stiles’ favorite movies lined up next to the projector. Derek had in his hands all the groceries they would need for the night and there was only two hours left until Stiles got there from work.

“I mean.” Derek started, his pack looking to him with worry in their eyes. He shook his head and said, “No, this is great. It’ll be awesome.” He hesitated and turned to Scott. “He’ll like it? I mean it won’t- because his mom-?”

Scott grinned. “No, man. It’s us. He’ll love it.”

Derek nodded and held up the bags in his hands. “I’m gonna go started.”

~~~

It was the best birthday Stiles ever had. His friends had turned an entire room into a _fort_ . And now they were all lying around, curled up around each other like they only did sometimes. Lydia was braiding the side of Erica’s hair and Isaac was asleep on Scott’s stomach. Allison was leaned up against the other side of Scott, fingers carding through Isaac’s hair. Boyd had Lydia’s feet in his lap and seemed to be dozing off. Derek was on a pile of cushions by himself, watching Bruce Willis fight off aliens _very intently_ when Stiles fell down next to him, carrot cake in his hands. He grinned at Derek and offered him a bite from his fork. Derek opened his mouth willingly enough, his eyes still on the screen.

“Dude, haven’t you seen The Fifth Element before?” Stiles whispered.

Derek chewed and shook his head. “No. Shush.”

And because Stiles understood the importance of seeing The Fifth Element for the first time, he did, finished off his cake, took the plate and Derek’s empty beer bottle to the kitchen. He would normally do the dishes but since it was his birthday, he left it and went back to his spot next to Derek. He settled in next to him, unaware that Boyd and Isaac were watching him closely.

Eventually he did doze off, his long day at the school catching up to him. When he woke, everyone else was asleep around him and his head was pillowed on Derek’s shoulder. It was happening more and more lately that Derek was letting them close to him. Stiles pulled a blanket up over them and curled in close. He let his eyes trace Derek’s face, much younger looking when he was asleep. The lights, some of them anyway, blinked on and off and the pillow blanket fort/room was filled with a hazy light. There were soft sighs all around and when he sat up a little bit to see everyone he could see Isaac curled loosely around Lydia, Erica laid over Boyd and Allison being the big spoon to Scott’s little spoon. Stiles looked back up at Derek and fought the urge to trace his jaw and his lips. Instead, he laid back down on Derek’s chest. He smiled and then said softly, “Happy birthday to me.”

“Shush. No presents till tomorrow.” Derek said softly, his eyes still shut. He reached over to Stiles’ hip and manhandled him into a more comfortable position wherein Stiles was the little spoon. “Go to sleep.”

Stiles did.

~~~

_**Three Months Later** _

It was summer, finally, and the pack was in full hunting mode. There was a witch roaming the woods and causing havoc on the Hale land. On the _pack_ land, Stiles corrected himself as Derek did every single time that Stiles misnamed it. At first she was only doing small things, tearing up the lands, scaring all the wildlife away. Last night though, she had torn Isaac open from hip to rib and it was only through Lydia and Stiles’ studying of the books that Deaton had left behind that they were able to right him quickly. Even now, Isaac lay in the front room asleep with Scott next to him. The rest of the pack was rising from their rooms, or in Stiles’ case, Derek’s room. Derek had felt a weird stirring in the pack after he had gone to bed and Stiles had followed him up and curled up on the other side of his bed. There weren’t words, but there was a wave of uncertainty that would have normally made Derek get out of bed to find the cause of it, but it was followed by such a wave of love and acceptance, Derek had let it go.

He just wasn’t that good with emotions.

So instead he fell back into his bed, lulled to sleep by Stiles’ breathing.

The next morning Derek was downstairs, pouring himself a cup of coffee, mentally mapping the woods as he knew them; every hill and every field. His family owned acres and acres of it and it backed up onto a conservatory. No easy way to track the witch or to find out if there was a way to broker peace between the pack and her.

“So, I know there is protocol and everything,” Erica said, coming into the kitchen with Allison right behind her, “But I don’t know what is so I’m just going to ask you: Is Stiles like, our den mother or something?”

Derek snorted scalding hot coffee up his nose and cursed. Sure, healing, yeah, but it hurt like a _bitch_.

“What?” Derek coughed.

Erica opened her mouth, but Allison laid a hand one her arm. Erica sighed and rolled her eyes but backed off.

“What Erica is trying to ask is,” Allison paused and rubbed at her mouth. “God, you are right this is weird.” She muttered to Erica. Derek watched them both closely, his eyebrows raised. Allison’s eyes were closed and out of habit, he listened to her heartbeat. She pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed in slowly and Derek felt something… _off_. She didn’t smell sick but there was something different about her, something that was all at once familiar but completely unknown to him. It dawned on him in waves. Erica, watching Derek, was confused but knew _something_ was happening.

“Allison-” Derek started.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at him, her eyes wide. They stared at each for several long seconds. “No.” She whispered.

“Allison!” Derek cried out, forgetting the cup of coffee in his hand as he did a very Stiles-like gesture and flung coffee on the curtains.

“I didn’t- I mean-” Allison fumbled and then she stopped and paled. “Are you _sure_?”

“Allison!” Derek said again, this time in an urgent whisper as he tried to reign himself in. It was too late probably, the waves of excitement and love and concern hitting the pack members like a freight train.

“Stop saying my name like that!” She yelled at him. Boyd barreled in, Lydia was shouting something from the stairs and Scott came into the room with Stiles, Isaac slung between them. The wolves were partially shifted, canines elongated, claws out. Stiles had a knife in his free hand. Erica looked between Derek and Allison and Lydia stumbled in behind them.

“What’s happening?” Scott asked, catching the look between Derek and Allison.

“Allison!” Derek said, pointing, unsure of what else to say.

“Yes, we know!” Stiles huffed. “What about her?”

Allison regarded Derek for a very long time and he nodded. “Boyd, help Isaac sit down.” Derek requested softly. Boyd and Stiles took Isaac to the table and he sat. Everyone turned to Derek expectantly, even Allison. He opened his mouth and then looked down at his bare feet and the white tile beneath them. The pack had helped him restore the place and Scott and him and redone the kitchen, tailored to Allison’s requests. He remembered laughing with Scott over something stupid as they lay the tile down and thanking whatever twisted luck of fate that brought Scott, his beta, his _brother_ , to him. Then he had taken the time to be thankful for each member of his pack, of his tiny misfit toys that they sometimes called themselves, and he wanted to cry with gratitude in front of his pack.

“Derek?” Stiles asked, stepping forward. They had heard the hitch in Derek’s breath and when he raised his eyes to them, they saw them shining bright with tears. The pack’s emotions hit him again; they had _never_ seen Derek like this before. He knew why they couldn’t hear it, or see it, yet. He was their alpha and it was up to him to be aware of every change, no matter how small or how big, that might come at them.

“Allison’s pregnant.” Derek said softly.

There was utter silence in the room. No one moved for a full fifteen seconds until Scott turned to her. He reached out for her and she nodded and he dropped to his knees in front of her. He pressed an ear to her belly and closed his eyes.

“Oh god.” He whispered. His hands were shaking and his eyes were still closed and he held her close and her hands were in his hair. “Oh _god_.” He said again. Suddenly he stood and pulled her towards Isaac. Isaac, looking more shaken than even Scott, did the same thing. He pulled her close and pressed an ear to her belly, having to bend over a little to do it. He didn’t close his eyes though, and looked up at Derek. Derek saw the moment that he heard the heartbeat, small and quick. This thing with the three of them was hardly new and it wasn’t that much of a surprise that the first person that Scott would turn to in this situation was Isaac.

“Derek-” Isaac said. It hit Derek probably as hard as he had hit the rest of the pack. Isaac didn’t have the kind of parent that Scott had, someone who was there, someone who knew what to say and do. He was scared and looked a little sick but was excited at the same time.

“Hey, no.” Derek said, holding out his hand. “Stop it. Right now.” He growled. He straightened up and used his “Alpha” voice (as Stiles called it). “You aren’t your father. You won’t fuck up like he did.”

“No, baby.” Allison said and tipped his head up so he could look at her. “No, you’re good. You’ve got us. You’ve got your pack.”

Scott leaned over Isaac’s shoulder and gathered him up gently in his arms. “No, man. That isn’t you. That isn’t anything like you. This kid is going to have an amazing pair of dads and mom. An amazing pack.”

“Kids.” Derek corrected without thinking about it.

Scott, Isaac and Allison turned to him all at once.

“What?” Lydia finally sputtered.

Derek gestured helplessly to Allison. “Twins.” He said softly.

Allison had to sit down and did so, heavily, in Isaac’s lap. He winced but didn’t say anything.

The initial question that Allison and Erica came to Derek about was long forgotten.

~~~

_**Seven Months Later** _

It’s not like Stiles didn’t like his apartment. He did. He actually kind of loved it. Derek had made the table (by himself! by hand! who does that!), and Allison had picked out his comforter and Boyd had set up his TV and game console and Erica had warded the windows and doors and Scott had picked out his dishes and Isaac had bought his silverware and Lydia had hung up the art and the pictures of the pack. It has a huge bay window that he shoved his overly large captain’s bed underneath and when it rains at night, he gets to listen to the rain hitting the window and the roof and it’s the most serene feeling in the world.

Ok, second most serene feeling in the world.

The most serene feeling in the world is falling asleep near everyone, knowing that they are all safe and warm and only steps away from him. The most serene feeling in the world is falling asleep on his side of Derek’s bed and knowing that when he woke up, Derek would be draped over him, his face in Stiles’ neck. The most serene feeling in the world would be stumbling down the stairs and finding Lydia already awake, wearing matching pajamas, her hair already done, Allison at her side. The most serene feeling would be getting ready for work, leaving and waving to Scott and Isaac as they sat in the office, already hard at work.

Stiles’ most calm was always with his friends.

But tonight he had too many papers to grade, too many grades to enter and not enough time. He was stressed and he wanted his friends kind of desperately but there just wasn’t time. Tonight he didn’t have time to go over to the Hale house and lean a gentle ear on Allison’s tummy, or to listen to Scott freak out or read in bed with Derek snoring a few feet away. Tonight he had to work and had to get it done otherwise his review was going in the can.

Being an adult sucked.

As Stiles settled in, microwave mac n’ cheese at his elbow, laptop open, papers and _violently_ pink pen at the ready, there was a knock at his door. Stiles sighed and considered not answering it.

“I can hear you in there.” Boyd said. “Let us in.”

Sometimes, having werewolves as his nearest and dearest was a pain in Stiles’ ass.

He stood, let Boyd and Erica in and watched in amazement as they packed his stuff up neatly and placed it in his beat up messenger bag. Erica tossed his mac n’ cheese in the trash and shut off his lights while Boyd shoved his red hoodie at him. He stood at them, his arms out, his mouth open in a question.

“You are giving us a headache.” Erica said as way of explanation. “And if you are making us hurt, god only _knows_ what you are doing to Derek.”

It was easy to forget now that whatever the pack felt was magnified by five onto Derek. Derek was so easy going these days, filled with more smiles that Stiles thought possible, that it didn’t occur to him that what he was feeling was hurting anyone else. “What do you mean?” Stiles said. “I’m not a werewolf.”

“Yeah, but you’re pack, you idiot and you are making us sick.” Erica said sweetly. She nudged Stiles’ running shoes at him and then, as a second thought occurred to her, she turned to his bedroom and closet. She pulled out a sweater vest and tie, pressed slacks and his contacts and put them in her purse. “You’re staying the night. A couple nights, I imagine, until this review is over with and you can gain some equilibrium.” She looked down at the clothes laid neatly over her arm and returned to his room to gather more clothes.

Stiles opened his mouth to protest but Boyd cut him off. “Come on Stiles.” He said gently. “Come home. We need you as much as you need us.”

And who could say no to that?

~~~

When Boyd pulled to a stop in front of the Hale house, Isaac all but leapt off the porch, bounding for the driveway and Stiles. He was a little more sensitive to mood swings than the rest of the pack. Stiles chalked it up to a self defense mechanism learned from his father. Isaac hugged Stiles close and patted him on the back. He opened the trunk of the Camaro and pulled out the bag that Erica had forced him to pack and swung the garment bag up on his shoulder before making for the house. Boyd already had his bag with his laptop and papers tucked away and Erica had his contacts and favorite book in her purse. Stiles stood in the driveway looking up at them, watching as they made their way into the house.

“Werewolves have taken over my life.” Stiles muttered. “ _Bossy_ werewolves.”

Scott appeared out of the woods from behind him and made him jump. He grinned at Stiles. “Glad you’re home.” He said and slung an arm around Stiles’ neck.

“I _was_ at home.” Stiles muttered.

“No, you were at your apartment that you keep for reasons that are beyond all of us.” Scott corrected. He nodded to the house, lights on and warm. “Now, you’re home.”

Stiles stopped and Scott stopped with him. Stiles furrowed his brow and opened his mouth. He stopped himself and he felt a flush begin around his collarbone.

“What?” Scott asked.

“Do you- uh, ha. Do you mean it?” He asked and looked up at the house. “Do _they_ mean it?”

Scott’s entire face softened at Stiles’ words. “Is that why you haven’t been living with us? You didn’t think we wanted you around?”

Stiles’ insecurities rushed to the surface in a flash. The hyperactive kid that no one picked to be on their team, the one who had too much to say, too many words to throw at the world, too skinny to fight, too angry to be left behind, not smart enough, not fast enough-

“Hey, no.” Scott said and reached for him. He pulled Stiles close so that they were forehead to forehead, the most intimate way to show comfort between pack members that weren’t your mate. It was times like these that Stiles was surprised by how _wolf_ Scott had become. “No, man. You are so important, you’re my _brother_. We would die without you. We all hurt when you leave back to your apartment. We don’t just want you here, we need you here. We work better when you are here.”

Stiles went still but Scott didn’t let him pull away.

“This is your home. This is where you belong.” Scott muttered.

After a long moment, Scott let him pull away and Stiles nodded. “Ok.” He said.

“Come on, you got work to do and you’re hungry.” Scott said. He pulled him forward to the door and when he opened it, Boyd was carrying a desk down the stairs and Isaac was re-positioning the desks in the office under Lydia’s direction. Derek stood off to the side, scowling. Allison was next to him, a hand on her belly, watching Derek out of the corner of her eye and eating a pickle.

“Put your desk underneath the window.” Lydia said to Isaac. “And put Scott’s next to it, but facing the other wall. Yes. Good.” She gestured for Boyd to come in, and put the desk he was carrying in the corner. “Great. Now, where did Erica put his laptop and stuff?” Lydia asked, glancing around the large office and spying Stiles’ bag in the corner. She plucked it up and handed Isaac the charger and then laid Stiles’ things out. Erica came trooping down the stairs, an office chair in hand. She slid it behind Lydia who was organizing the desk and separating the piles of papers that Stiles had to grade by subject and flipping his laptop on. It came on with a whirr and everyone frowned at it. Lydia continued organizing, pulling out highlighters, pens, pencils and sticky notes. She put them all in an order that would have made sense to Stiles and added a small box of paper clips at the end before nodding to herself and pushing away from the desk. She patted Stiles on the chest.

“All right, Mr. Stilinski. You are all set up.” She said and made her way into the living room.

“Dinner’s in five.” Isaac called out and Boyd and Erica followed him into the kitchen. Scott pulled Allison into the living room and Derek glared at Stiles.

“I thought we were past the tall, dark and glaring.” Stiles said softly.

Derek crossed the room swiftly and Stiles thought he was going to be thrown against a wall. Instead, Derek stopped a foot away from him and glared _even harder_.

“Dude, you’re gonna break something.” Stiles joked but it came out a little strangled. It was easy to forget _this_ Derek, the Alpha, the one who got his way by sheer violence and force.

Derek huffed and reached a hand out, pulled Stiles close. Derek leaned forward and put his forehead to Stiles, forcing Stiles to close his eyes. He relaxed though, the minute that Derek leaned into him. All the tension left him from the week and he almost sagged with relief.

“This is your home. This is your family.” Derek said softly. “We are your pack.”

It was the same three sentences that Derek had said to everyone when they moved in.

Stiles felt a knot loosen in his chest and he couldn’t believe how easy it was. He was here.

He was home.

~~~

It worked out better than he thought it would. Stiles was under the impression that if he moved into the Hale house, there would always be distractions, something better, more fun to do. Another wolf emergency, some place to run off to.

Instead, it worked on the first night like it would work every other night.

Stiles ate dinner with everyone else in the dining room. Then he climbed into some worn out sweat pants and a shirt that was probably Derek’s, and settled down at his desk. He worked quickly on the papers he had, grading them and marking them. When he lived alone, this was usually the part where Stiles would lean back and mutter something about wishing he had a partner. He had done it every time for the preceding three years, for someone to read off the student’s name and score so he could type it in. But instead, when he wished that there was a partner to help him, Isaac popped his head around the corner, a popsicle in his mouth.

“Need something?” He asked.

Stiles opened his mouth to say no, he was fine but he sagged against the back of his chair and Isaac was already pulling up his own chair. It was almost ten at night and he was so tired and he still had the first half of his review tomorrow to do.

“Yeah, that’d be great. Can you just read the names and scores off to me?” Stiles asked and handed the first stack over.

Isaac settled in and did as he was asked. After a moment, Derek padded into the room, glasses on his nose, track pants dangerously low around his hips, shirtless and began to shuffle through the papers.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Stiles asked.

“It’ll be easier if your kids are already in alphabetical order.” Derek muttered.

Stiles opened his mouth but was struck speechless. Instead, he let Derek do it and he let Isaac help him and when it was all done, he closed his laptop, put the papers away and turned off the light to the office. He shuffled across the hall and fell on the large couch and after a few minutes of tossing and turning, fell into a light doze.

What felt like only moments later, there was a huge weight on his body and he flailed, pushing at bare shoulders and a warm body.

“What are you doing down here?” Derek asked, his voice muffled in Stiles’ neck.

“I _was_ sleeping.” Stiles said.

“But why down here?” Derek asked, pulling away and looking down at Stiles.

“Because your overly large house still only has six bedrooms and they are all currently taken.” Stiles said, his hands still on Derek’s shoulders.

“Yeah but you usually-” Derek stopped himself and pulled away. His face was shadowed and Stiles couldn’t see Derek’s face or his eyes. Stiles hands fell to Derek’s bare thighs. “No, that’s ok. Do you have everything you need? Blanket? Pillow?”

“I usually what?” Stiles asked, propping himself up on his elbows and most decidedly _not_ enjoying the view of Derek straddling his thighs wearing only his boxers.

“You usually sleep in my room.” He said finally.

“Aw, pookie. You miss your chew toy?” Stiles asked.

“It was once and it wasn’t even a bite. It was a _nibble_.” Derek corrected. He stood and nodded at the doorway. “Come on. It’s weird you sleeping here but not upstairs with the rest of us. They can all feel it and Scott and Isaac need to sleep.”

Stiles stood and followed Derek up the stairs and into his bedroom. Stiles fell on his side and Derek pulled the blankets up around himself, making something of a nest.

As Stiles drifted off, he felt Derek turn to him. “Much better.” He heard and sleep claimed him.

~~~

“Well, no wonder you look like crap more often than not.” Lydia muttered. “You don’t eat in the morning and god knows what kind of sleep you were getting over at your apartment.” She was already prim and perfect and it wasn’t even seven in the morning. Stiles wanted to growl at her but she had a point.

“Thank you.” Stiles said as Allison handed him a breakfast sandwich. He slept deeply in Derek’s bed, waking only when he heard his second alarm go off, Derek plastered over him, his face in Stiles’ neck.

Lydia had his coffee in a to go mug. “You are a goddess.” He whispered to her.

She held out a Green Lantern lunch box. “God knows what you’ve been eating for lunch.” She muttered and sent him through the door.

He skidded to a halt at the office, only to find that Derek had already packed his papers and laptop in his messenger bag and was holding it out for him. “Knock em dead.” He said with a grin.

Stiles grinned back and hopped into his Jeep and headed for the school. Once there, he looked in the mirror, frowned at his tie, straightened it and the bell rang. The kids streamed in, hung up their stuff and sat down. There was a few minutes for announcements but once that was over, the class started in on their daily problem Stiles had scrawled on the board.

_How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back to you._

Stiles paced the room, watching the kids work the riddle out in their own time and when he had three correct answers in his hands, he awarded prizes from his Treasure Box and then clapped his hands. The class turned to him, eyes bright and ready.

“All right.” He said and saw three people stream in from the back. “Class, we have some visitors with us for a little while but they are just to watch us. So, all is well-”

“And all is right!” The class shouted back at him.

“You are all geniuses. I was given a class full of geniuses.” Stiles said and grinned. “And what do all geniuses need?”

“Affirmation!”

“Concentration!”

“Imagination!” The class crowed together.

“Geniuses, like I said.” Stiles said. “Let’s get your science notebooks out, we are learning about tectonic plates today, ladies and gentlemen.”

~~~

_**Three Weeks Later** _

“He’s been out there a really long time.” Scott whispered to Allison.

She nodded, her mouth glued together by the peanut butter she was eating straight from the jar.

“Do you think he’s ok?” Boyd asked softly.

“I _think_ he’s ok.” Erica said. “Listen to his heart. We could hear a panic attack coming a mile away.”

“But if he’s ok, what’s he doing out there?” Isaac asked.

“I’ve never seen him so still.” Lydia said softly.

“Is it because we moved all his stuff here?” Allison asked.

“Derek said to.” Boyd pointed out.

The six of them were gathered at the large window in the office, watching Stiles out the window. He was sitting in his Jeep, staring out at the woods. He hadn’t moved in ten minutes. They were worried, seeing as the past week had been his reviews and he had worked so hard with his kids. They couldn’t feel anything coming off of him other than his steady pulse and an unease.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Derek asked, coming in through the back door to find the group at the window.

“Stiles. He hasn’t move in ten minutes.” Scott said.

“Is he bewitched? Is there a kanima around?” Derek asked, crowding close to the group.

“No. He’s just- sitting there.” Isaac said.

Derek cocked his head to the side and watched Stiles. Stiles watched the woods. They sat there for another five minutes until they heard Stiles sigh and grab for his bag and climb out of his Jeep.

“Did he get fired?” Erica asked, voicing the question that no one else would.

“They would have to be morons.” Allison said immediately.

“Idiots.” Boyd agreed.

“No one’s that stupid.” Scott said.

“I’ll slash their tires.” Isaac volunteered.

“They wouldn’t do that.” Erica said. “He’s a goddamn gift to those beasts.”

As a group, they moved to the front hallway and waited for Stiles to come in.

When he stepped through the door and saw them all gathered there in a tight group behind Derek, he laughed. “They didn’t fire me.” Stiles said.

“Told you.” Erica muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Lydia asked.

“They, uh-” Stiles swung his bag up on the small bench where everyone left their stuff. “They offered me a job.” He said.

“Don’t you already have one of those?” Isaac pointed out.

“In administration. It’s better pay, better hours, less stress-” Stiles shrugged and sat down on the floor. He actually slumped there. Derek walked over to him and sat with him and everyone else gathered around. Isaac and Scott had to help Allison. “And they strongly urged me to take it, to put my talents to the best use.” He muttered.

Derek exchanged a look with Lydia.

“Are you saying that if you don’t take this job, they might fire you?” Lydia asked slowly.

Stiles huffed and looked down at his hands. “They didn’t say it in so many words, but yeah. I think that’s what they were getting at.”

“Do you want the job?” Allison asked.

Stiles was silent for a long moment. “No.” He said softly. “I _love_ my kids. I love my classroom. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

The group fell silent. “I think you should stay where you are too.” Scott said. “If that’s where you are happiest.”

“And if they fire you, there are other schools around here. They would kill to have you.” Derek murmured.

“Private schools, charter schools, you can have the same job but more leeway.” Allison offered.

Stiles nodded. These thoughts had occurred to him already but he just didn’t want to leave _his_ school, _his_ classroom. He felt like he had worked too hard and too long in college to just call it quits because of some bureaucratic dicks.

“Hey, and maybe they won’t fire you. Maybe they’ll figure that if it’s between having you in the classroom or not at all, they’ll leave it.” Erica pointed out.

Stiles nodded and looked up at everyone gathered around. “Hey, but Friday, right?”

Everyone grinned and nodded.

“Let’s do something wild and reckless like stay up past eleven.” Scott suggested.

“I’m out.” Allison said. “In fact, I’m going to go take a nap, right now.” Erica stood and helped her up.

They all watched her waddle her way up the stairs, jar of peanut butter in hand. Stiles slid his phone out of his pocket and looked at the calendar. Four weeks until her due date.

“Somebody needs to go buy more peanut butter.” Derek whispered. “Remember the last time we ran out and she didn’t have any?”

“I’ll go.” Isaac said.

“Get some stuff for burgers.” Lydia advised. “We can cook out.”

Stiles grinned. He was glad he had come home.

~~~

They had lounged around that night, with nothing better to do. Stiles kept coming and going from the living room where there was a movie playing, to outside where people were still eating. Eventually he wandered upstairs and peered into Derek’s walk in closet. Half of it had been cleared away of gray and black tshirts and now Stiles’ graphic tees, sweater vests, suits and ties hung there. His pillow was thrown haphazardly on the bed with his favorite throw he had stolen from his father. His deodorant was next to Derek’s in Derek’s bathroom, his toothbrush next to Derek’s, his shoes lined up neatly across from Derek’s in the closet, his table that Derek had made him in the back of the living room, his comics in the office by his desk, the pictures and art that Lydia had hung up were scattered on his desk and throughout the house, a new chest of drawers sat next to Derek’s in Derek’s room with the rest of Stiles’ stuff in it-

Stiles let out a breath. It wasn’t weird. The only thing that was weird was how _not_ weird it was.

“Are you freaking out?” Isaac asked from the doorway. He was eating a hot dog.

“No.” Stiles said.

“That’s good.” He replied and sat down in the arm chair that Derek had bought so Stiles could read in the room. It had to be at least three years old. He could remember studying in it while he was in college and home for break. He had been staying in Derek’s bed for a long time now. “It’s good that you’re here.” Isaac continued. “Especially before the twins get here.”

“Why’s that?” Stiles asked, sitting on the bed.

Isaac shrugged and chewed his food. His eyes were on the big bay window. “Because he’ll need you.”

Stiles snorted. “Derek does _not_ need me.”

Isaac continued chewing, his eyes still on the window. “Do you know how many people he’s brought back here since we started this?” Isaac said, gesturing around himself vaguely to the house and the pack. Stiles stood and went to the window. He didn’t really want to know. “No one, Stiles. He won’t even let anyone in that bed.” Isaac said.

“His pack is everything to him.” Stiles muttered.

Isaac nodded. His hot dog was gone. “That’s certainly true.” He stood and glanced out the window next to Stiles. They watched as Derek and Boyd threw a football in between each other and Derek laughed when Scott tried to intercept it and fell on his ass. “But he doesn’t let anyone in here but you.” Isaac looked over at Stiles. “Just something I thought you should know.”

Isaac was in the hallway when Stiles asked him, “Why?” He chased after Isaac. “Why should I know that? Why is that important?”

Isaac sighed and looked at him. “Derek is my alpha and I can’t interfere with his business. But what I can do is lay out all the facts for you. You can do what you want with it.” He put his hand on his and Scott and Allison’s bedroom door. “I’m going to check on my very pregnant girlfriend who is asleep in our bed where only Scott, Allison and I are allowed in. No one else is allowed in that bed. Now, when the twins are born, they’ll curl up there too. But no one else. Just Scott, Allison and me.” Isaac looked at Stiles for a long time and sighed. He opened the door and slipped in.

Stiles turned to the attic where Lydia was on the computer, pulling up some new designs for Hale Hierarchy Weapons Collection. She was worrying at her lip but turned in her seat when she heard him open the door. “Hey.” She said with a grin. “Liking the new digs?”

“Yeah.” Stiles said and went to her window. Derek was still in the grass but now he laughing at Boyd and Scott who were wrestling over the football.

“Got something on your mind, sweet cheeks?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah, why are you up here working when everyone else is down there playing?”

“Not everyone is down there playing. Allison is asleep. Erica is doing her nails. You’re having a freak out. Isaac is probably hovering over Allison. We all do different things.” Lydia said. Then she nodded to her screen. “This is the first weapons collection that Derek has let me have full control over.”

Stiles wandered over to see the bows and knives sleekly displayed. “When does production start?” He asked.

“Two more months.” Lydia said. She clicked over to the invoices tab that she had opened. “We’re currently back ordered on a couple of them but Derek’s guns and knives are still outpacing everyone.”

Stiles chuckled at her competitive tone. He made to sit down on her bed and she arched an eyebrow at him. “Don’t you dare.” She said.

“What? Why can’t I just sit on your bed?” He asked.

“You know why. Sit on the chair, if you are going to sit.” Lydia said, gesturing to an overstuffed chair next to her desk.

Stiles sat in it and sighed. Lydia didn’t say anything for a few more minutes until she couldn’t take it anymore. “Tell me.” She said.

“I didn’t see it?” Stiles said finally. “I still don’t?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I don’t know?”

Lydia smiled. “It doesn’t have to be anything more than it is now. He’s on an even keel now that you are here. He’s-” She shrugged. “He’s at peace now. And I think that’s enough, that you can give him that.”

Stiles chewed on his lip and nodded.

“But if you wanted to give him more, I doubt he would object.”

Stiles snorted and Lydia laughed.

~~~

Stiles woke up that night at two fifty seven. He stared at the ceiling and listened to Derek breathe against his neck. Sometime in the past four years, he had gotten used to waking up like this, Derek with his face in his neck, arm wrapped around his bicep, the other one tucked underneath the pillow. He had even gotten used to the fact that Derek slept only in boxer briefs and there was what seemed like miles and miles of tan skin wrapped around him. Stiles closed his eyes and waited for sleep to claim him once again but there was nothing.

He lightly tapped Derek’s arm. “Hey, big guy.”

“No.” Derek moaned.

“I need water. The human is parched.” Stiles said.

Derek clung to him harder for just a second before letting him up. Stiles pressed a hand to Derek’s shoulder and traced the outer part of tattoo with his fingers. “I’ll be back.” He whispered.

“You better.” Derek threatened, curling around Stiles’ Iron Man pillow. He was breathing deeply again before Stiles left the room.

He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where a light was on. The refrigerator door was open and Allison was kneeling in front of it. At her feet there was a bunch of containers with food in it and it looked like she was scrubbing the inside. Stiles stood and watched her for a moment.

“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked finally.

“No.” She said and frowned. “This stupid false contractions kick in and wake me up and I’m so tired but I can’t sleep but I can’t just lie there between those two either.”

“It gets hot.” Stiles said, nodding. “And I’ve only got the one.”

Allison peeked her head around the corner of the fridge to look at him. “Have you? Have you got one?”

Stiles opened his mouth and pointed at her. “That didn’t come out how I meant it.”

“Yes it did.” She said primly. She pointed at the containers at her feet. “Can you get these and put them by the sink for me?”

Stiles did as she asked and got a glimpse of the sparkling inside of the fridge. He helped her to her feet and she made her way to the sink where she began dumping all the old food out and rinsing the containers. He opened the pantry door and snagged a granola bar from the newly organized shelf and stood next to her. He offered her a bite and she took it. Allison was humming something underneath her breath. “No, it’s good. It’s good that you have one. It’s good that you are starting to-” She paused and her eyes went distant for a second.

“Allison?”

“Sorry.” She said with a smile. “It’s good that you are starting to, I don’t know, explore the idea. Of you and him.” She nodded. “No rush. You guys are there for each other.”

“I think everyone in this house is very high.” Stiles said.

Allison laughed but it was cut short. She reached out for him blindly and caught his shoulder and dug into the flesh there. He gasped and was about to say something when he caught sight of her face. “Ok.” He said and nodded. “Ok, breathe. I’ll go get the guys.”

“Don’t. Leave. Me.” She ground out.

“Ok. Staying.” He said and nodded. Then he said, “But we really need to call them.”

Allison nodded and said. “Ok. Get to the stairs and call them.”

They shuffled over to the stairs as one, Allison clinging to Stiles’ arm and shirt. At the foot of the stairs he opened his mouth but then Allison clapped a hand over his mouth. “Do not sound panicked. You know how they are.” She hissed.

Stiles nodded and she dropped her hand. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth-

And Allison gasped and clawed at him again.

“Sco- Ow, ow, _ow!”_ He yelped. Above him, doors were thrown open, and next to him, Allison clung. Stiles got a grip around her shoulders, and held on so she wouldn’t fall to the ground. When he looked up, gold, blue and red eyes were flashing at him.

“It’s time.” Stiles said.

“Lydia!” Isaac called over his shoulder as he and Scott made their way down the stairs.

“Coming!” She said, wearing her black yoga pants and a dark blue tank top. “Boyd, get the pool. Erica, get the water running. Derek, get Stiles some bandages and then get the hose attached to the sink.” She snapped out. Her phone was already lighting up in her hand as it rang. “Scott, call your mom and the sheriff. Stiles have you been timing the contractions?”

“Uh, no.” He confessed. She rolled her eyes.

“Hi, Meredith, Lydia Martin here. Yes! Looks like the contractions are about fifteen minutes apart still.” Lydia pursed her lips and nodded. “Already being set up. Yes. Yes we’re all here. Oh, you are _fantastic_. Yes, I’ll tell her. Thank you so much. See you soon.”

Isaac took over Stiles’ spot and Scott went to her other side. “We’re good. We’re ok.” Allison said as they guided her into the living room and to the table in the back. In the front of the living room, Erica was pushing furniture out of the way while Boyd attached an air pump to a blow up pool in the middle of the room. Derek showed up and manhandled Stiles out of his shirt and quickly bandaged his shoulder where Allison had sunk her nails in. It was still oozing blood. “She got you good.” Derek noted. His eyes flashed red.

“All for the sake of the pack, right, big guy?” Stiles said.

Derek grimaced and nodded. Once finished he left for the front hall where he got a hose that would attach from the sink in the kitchen and stretch to the pool in the living room. Lydia was braiding Allison’s hair back out of her face as the pool began to fill. Scott was speaking over the phone quickly.

“How long till Meredith gets here?” Isaac asked.

“She was leaving right away.” Lydia said.

“Seventeen minutes.” Isaac muttered.

Stiles wasn’t even surprised that he knew that.

Meredith was a werewolf from a different pack. She was a midwife and specialized in werewolf births. She had told them from the beginning that each birth is different and that there is no predictable way to have a baby or a cub. There was no way to tell if the babies would be wolves right away or not. Sometimes the alphas knew right away, but it was only a 50/50 shot at best. She was knowledgeable and kind and understood that Allison wanted a home birth.

Everyone waited anxiously for her to show up, pacing and watching the pool fill with water.

Allison gasped and Isaac and Scott each gripped her hand. Lydia knelt in front of her. “Ok, Allison, remember to breathe. Ok? Now we’re just gonna count to ten. One, two, three…”

Stiles was astounded at her strength. She didn’t curse and though tears were streaming down her face she wasn’t a sobbing mess like she had predicted she would be. When Lydia hit ten, Allison began to relax and Scott and Isaac did as well.

“God, you’re amazing.” Scott muttered from next to her.

Allison hung her head. “Please don’t let this be a long labor.” She muttered.

The pool filled quickly and Meredith, Melissa and John arrived practically together. Meredith strode into the room and began to set up. Melissa made her way to Allison, checking her blood pressure with a cuff she had and her pulse. She looked into her eyes and listened to her heart. She smiled at her and nodded. “You’re doing great.”

Allison nodded and another contraction hit her. Lydia knelt in front of her again, reminded her to breathe, counted for her. “They’re getting closer.” Allison said.

Lydia nodded. “Seven and a half minutes apart.”

“Oooh, they must be in a hurry.” Meredith said. “You can get in the pool whenever you are ready.”

Allison nodded. “Ok.” Everyone but Isaac, Scott and Meredith left the room.

There was some murmuring and then Scott appeared. “Mom?”

“Yeah!” Melissa said and followed him back in the room.

They were out there for another hour, Allison’s cries becoming more and more frequent. Eventually Lydia joined the other group at her request and everyone else remained in the other room.

“Is this weird?” Stiles asked Derek.

Derek raised an eyebrow. “I’m a werewolf. How is having a kid weird compared to that?”

“No, that they are having a kid in your house.” Stiles said.

Derek pursed his lips. “No. My sisters and I were born here. Mom was born on her family farm and Dad was born at his family’s place. I didn’t want to say anything, but going to a hospital would have been weird.”

“So this is tradition.” Stiles said and nodded. “Neat.”

Derek smirked. He watched as the others paced for another twenty minutes until he jumped to his feet. His eyes were wide and he grinned. There was a cry from the other room. “They’re here.” He whispered to Stiles. He pulled Stiles to his feet and they all followed Derek around the corner just as they heard a second cry join the first. Not wanting to intrude, but clearly unable to help himself, Derek peeked around the corner and Stiles followed suit. Boyd and Erica did the same and John, who was supposed to be the mature adult, was trying to peek around the corner too.

Melissa and Meredith were both wrapping the babies in blankets. Meredith hovered over Allison for a few minutes after handing the first baby over to Scott and then Melissa handed the second one over to Isaac. Allison looked over her shoulder and laughed when she saw everyone looking over. “Go away for a second let me get something on.” She said. They all backed away and a few seconds later, she called them back. Isaac was holding both babies now, looking for all the world, more amazed than anyone had ever seen him. Scott was wrapping Allison up in a blanket and helping her to the couch. She sat down and Isaac handed both babies off to her. She cooed at them softly as everyone took a step closer. One was wrapped up in blanket that had elephants printed on them and the other baby was wrapped up in a blanket that had fluffy clouds on it.

“Derek.” She said softly. For some reason, Derek reached out blindly for Stiles and dragged him forward too. “Scott, Isaac and I would like to introduce you to Daniel.” She said softly and lifted the baby up that was wrapped in elephants. Derek looked lost so Stiles reached down and gently took the baby from her arms. Derek hovered over him. “He’s so small.” He whispered.

“They usually start that way, yeah.” John said from Stiles’ other shoulder.

“Stiles, you gotta hand him over to Derek.” Scott urged gently.

“Is this a wolf thing no one told me about?” Stiles asked as he passed Daniel over to Derek gently.

“Yeah, the alpha has to accept the newest member into the pack.” Scott said, twitching nervously. Like there was a _chance_ that Derek wouldn’t accept the baby.

Derek leaned forward and pressed his lips to the sleeping baby’s forehead. “This is your home. This is your family.” Derek said softly. “We are your pack.”

Scott actually let out a breath.

“And this,” Allison said, “Is Talia.”

Everyone went still for a long moment. Derek closed his eyes and Lydia stepped forward and took the baby from him. Derek let out a breath and opened his eyes to meet Allison’s, both bright. “Really?” He asked.

Allison nodded and gestured to the small bundle in her arms. “Yeah.” She said softly.

This time Derek leaned down and picked up the baby from Allison. “This is your home. This is your family. We are your pack.” He tucked her into his arm gently and raised the back of his free hand to his face. “Oh my god.” He muttered. Lydia nudged Stiles forward and he fell right into place next to Derek. He reached up and wiped at his face.

“I won’t tell the pack that you cried over a baby.” Stiles whispered conspiratorially.

“Thanks.” Derek huffed. The baby in his arms yawned.

~~~

_**Four Months Later** _

Stiles woke up and stared at the ceiling. It was hot and Derek was making it hotter. It had to be nine in the morning and Stiles could hear people outside their bedroom, walking around. It was July and today was the first day that Stiles could go into the central office for his school district and see if his teaching contract had been renewed for the following year. He had been unable to receive a straight answer either way from his principal, who seemed more angry and at a loss than even Stiles.

Stiles didn’t move from his spot in the middle of the bed where Derek was practically laying on top of him, Derek’s leg in between Stiles, Derek’s face in his neck, both arms curled around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles had his fingers in Derek’s hair and began to pull lightly at his hair. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to get up to see if his contract was going to be renewed or not. Sitting here in this kind of limbo, both with and possibly without a job, was a zen like state that he could get used to.

“Schroedinger’s job.” Stiles muttered to himself.

“Are you sleep talking or are you awake?” Derek asked.

“I’m awake.” Stiles said. Then he paused. “Do I talk in my sleep?”

“Yes. Last night you told me you wanted to buy bicycle flavored ice cream.” Derek replied.

Stiles hummed. It wasn’t entirely out of the question.

“Are you going in today?” Derek asked. He had yet to move. Stiles was still pulling on his hair.

“I don’t know. I could wait a couple weeks and pretend like I still have a job.” Stiles said.

“Or you could go now and have more time to plan for what you want to do.” Derek countered. He tightened his grip on Stiles, like he didn’t actually _mean_ it. He didn’t actually want Stiles to move from their bed.

“Or I could lay here all day and pretend that I have a job.” Stiles said again.

“Are you really that sure that they would fire you?” Derek said.

“They made it pretty clear that I need to take the job in administration.” Stiles said. Derek sat up and looked down at him. He frowned. Stiles reached up and stroked the crease between his forehead. “I hate those people, man. They don’t get what a classroom is like. Not really. They don’t understand the day to day work that goes into a kid that is struggling or has trouble at home or who just doesn’t like school. And they don’t want to get it.” Stiles dropped his hand back down to his own bare stomach. “Those kids, what they do every day, how hard they work, that’s what I want to do. That’s how I want to contribute.”

Derek nodded. “Ok.” He said. He stood and made his way to the bathroom.

“ _Ok_?” Stiles said, sitting up and watching Derek make his way to the bathroom. “I pour my heart out to you about how shitty this is and all you can say is _Ok?”_

Derek reentered the room, a toothbrush in his mouth and nodded.

Stiles sighed heavily and threw himself back on the bed. He heard Derek turn on the shower and listened to him and he whistled in the shower. He stuck his head out at Stiles. “Should I shave?” He asked.

“No.” Stiles said and didn’t even look at him.

“You didn’t even look at me.” Derek whined.

“Don’t shave.” Stiles said.

Derek huffed and went back into the bathroom. When he came back out, he was dressed in jeans and a dark blue shirt.

“Is that my shirt?” Stiles asked, glaring at him.

“Yeah, but it was big on you so I took it.” Derek said.

Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Come on. Get up. We need to go to the office, find out what’s going on with you.” Derek said, offering him a hand up.

Stiles batted it out of the way. “I don’t wanna.”

“You are miserable right now. At least we can find out if you have a job and then you can properly mourn or not. Or you might still have it.” Derek pointed out.

“If I still had it, they would have just told me.” Stiles said and rolled over on his side away from Derek.

Derek sighed. Stiles knew he was pinching the bridge of his nose like he normally did when he was frustrated with Stiles. “It’ll be better to know or not.” Derek argued.

“I hate you.” Stiles said.

Derek laid down in the bed behind Stiles and curled up behind him. Stiles relaxed immediately into his arms. “No you don’t.” Derek said.

“My point still stands.”

“You literally have no point.”

“Are you getting up?”

“Oh for the love- all right! Fine! Let’s go.” Stiles said, getting out of the bed and heading into the bathroom.

~~~

Stiles met Derek in the kitchen, where he was drinking a cup of coffee with Daniel in one arm. Allison was feeding Talia in the high chair and Stiles could hear Lydia, Isaac and Scott in the other room working.

“Are you going in?” Allison asked. She reached for a wet paper towel to wipe at Talia’s face.

“Yes.” He muttered unhappily.

Allison unstrapped Talia from her high chair and handed her over to Stiles. Stiles took her in his arms and blew kisses on her neck, making her laugh.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll figure it out.” Allison said. She was drinking her own cup of coffee and watching him and Derek with her babies.

“I just don’t-”

“We know you don’t want to leave the kids, babe.” Allison said. Daniel dunked his hand in Derek’s lukewarm coffee and sucked at his fist. Derek took a drink of his coffee, undeterred. “And we all agree that that’s where you belong. But life is-” She looked at Stiles and Derek. “Weird.” She finally concluded. “Maybe this is for the best.” Daniel dunked his fist in the coffee again, this time offering it to Derek. Derek slurped the coffee off of Daniel’s tiny fist.

Stiles opened his mouth to remark on how gross that was but Talia whacked him in the face before he could say anything. She laughed and Allison snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough. Erica and Boyd swept into the kitchen right then, grocery bags in their arms.

“Are you going in?” Boyd asked.

“Oh my god, yes!” Stiles said. Talia laughed and whacked him in the face again.

“Give me my babies.” Boyd said, sweeping Talia away from Stiles and Daniel away from Derek. He ran out of the kitchen, cackling, leaving Erica to unpack all the groceries. They could hear the babies laughing with Boyd already.

“Damn him.” She muttered and started to pull the food out of the grocery bags.

Derek set his coffee down on the counter. “Ready?” He asked Stiles.

“You’re going with me?” Stiles asked.

Derek pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Of course.” He said.

“Oh good.” Stiles said, heading out of the kitchen.

Neither one of them saw the looks on Allison and Erica’s face as they left the kitchen and the house.

~~~

“You’re not going to renew my contract?” Stiles asked, for the third time, still not comprehending.

Ms. Goldstein, secretary extraordinarie, who handled all the paperwork for the incoming teachers nodded again. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. Stiles had been one of the biggest positive impacts on her youngest son’s life. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered.

Derek stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Stiles’ waist. “It’s ok.” Derek whispered to Stiles. He could feel the panic attack coming on from Stiles already. Derek could hear his heart pounding and didn’t have to look at him to know that his face was pale and Stiles was on the verge of fainting. “It’s ok.” He said to Ms. Goldstein. “It’s not your fault.” He said with a final look of disgust at the office door that was closed just beyond her desk.

 _Mr. Yancy Jacobs_ , the shiny nameplate read. Derek had met him, briefly, at a Christmas party Stiles had dragged him to. His handshake had been limp and sweaty and he smelled like more than one woman. He had stared a little too long at Lydia who had accompanied them that night as well, until Derek stepped in between them. Yancy was not a bad man, necessarily, not by the litmus test that Derek had. But neither was he a good man, someone that could be made accountable to certain actions.

“Come on.” He said softly to Stiles who was nodding at whatever Derek was saying. “I’m going to go buy you some ice cream and we are going to talk about this.”

~~~

They sat in the same shop that Derek and Boyd had sat in when they had planned out Stiles’ birthday. Now, Stiles sat across from him, almost completely hidden by the largest sundae that the man behind the counter could make. Derek had a plain cup of black coffee in his fingertips.

“I didn’t think they actually would.” Stiles whispered. He dipped his spoon into the whip cream and shoved it in his mouth. “I thought if I called their bluff-” He whimpered and spooned some ice cream into his mouth. He shook his head but didn’t complete the sentence.

“I know.” Derek muttered. He hadn’t really considered the possibility either. He didn’t think that they would let someone like Stiles go, someone who could develop an almost instant rapport with any student that crossed his path. Someone who could walk the line between respected teacher and friend so easily. Derek shook his head again. “I’m so sorry, man.”

Stiles gave him a watery smile but didn’t say anything else. At least his heart rate was down. In the Camaro, Derek had to hold him tight, the console pressing painfully into each of them until Stiles could breathe again. Feeling a member of the pack hurt like this, it brought out the most base instincts of the Alpha in Derek. It had taken every bit of his considerable self control not to storm back into the offices and tear Mr. Yancy Jacobs stomach open and strangle him with his own entrails.

Derek let Stiles be, letting him eat the small mountain of ice cream in front of him. There was a click of heels from behind Derek and he watched as Stiles’ face filled with the inevitable fear of talking to someone at a time like this.

“Mr. Stilinski!” A honeyed voice called. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you here. I just wanted to let you know that I requested that my son be in your class next year.” A blonde woman, her hair held back by something sparkly that Derek did not understand, came and stood by their table. She had two more women behind her, another blonde and a brunette. She took one look at Derek and then at Stiles and continued on, “Oh my goodness, I didn’t mean to interrupt your date. I just wanted to let you know that if my son does get in your class, you can count on me for any kind of volunteering that you might need-”

“I’m sorry, ma’am?” Derek interrupted gently, smiling at her. He watched her melt. “Um, now probably isn’t the best time.”

“Oh, oh I’m sorry.” She said softly.

“I won’t be teaching at Beacon Hills Elementary anymore, Mrs. Elmer.” Stiles said flatly. “The superintendent has decided not renew my contract.”

Mrs. Elmer blinked at Stiles who had yet to meet her eyes. She looked at Derek, askance. Derek only nodded the confirmation.

Mrs. Elmer smiled tremulously, “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. The children that you work with love you.They cannot speak highly enough of you. The same goes for the parents-” She stopped herself and took a deep breath. The brunette laid a hand on her shoulder and Mrs. Elmer reached up and patted it. “Your students are the highest achieving in the district, the scores alone speak volumes about the kind of teacher you are-” She stopped herself once more when she realized that Stiles had tuned her out. He was looking out the window and blinking furiously. “They let him _go_?” She finally whispered to Derek.

“They offered him a position in administration and when he refused because he wanted to stay in his classroom, with his kids, they didn’t renew his contract.” Derek said.

Mrs. Elmer’s eyes became cold and steely. She was a nice looking woman, in a very structured way; hair done and manicured nails, makeup done precisely and just the right amount of perfume on to not be overpowering. But when Derek saw the change in her, he felt his hackles rise.

“I’m sorry, they did what?” She said softly.

Derek repeated himself and there was a small hiccup from Stiles across the table. Derek reached for his hand and patted it. Mrs. Elmer tipped her head up and looked out the window at the school across the street from them. She tapped her manicured fingers on their table for a long moment but did not say a word. The two women behind her were silent as well, but it didn’t take a werewolf to feel their ire too.

“Susan.” She snapped at the blonde to her right. “I want you to get on the phone tree and call an emergency PTO meeting. My house. Seven o’clock. Deborah,” She said to the brunette on her left, “If you would be so kind as to make a few things, drinks, whatever it is you can whip up in a few moments, would be great, darling.”

Stiles cleared his throat and scooted out of the booth. He smiled at Mrs. Elmer. “Thank you for your support. And all the bake sales and everything else you did to help the school while I was employed there. I know that the kids appreciated it and I did too.” He nodded and stepped around the three women and left. Derek stood and pulled out his wallet. He dropped some money on the table. He smiled at the women again, although Deborah and Susan were not aware as they were already on their phones tapping away furiously.

“Thank you.” Derek said softly. Mrs. Elmer met his eyes and Derek saw something of an alpha there, a different species, but humans looked to leaders just as wolves did.

She placed a hand on his forearm and normally Derek would have considered her to be flirting but she stood up straighter, her heels making her almost as tall as him. “I want you to know that I will not let this stand.” She hissed. She was angry and Derek wanted to back away. Instead, he nodded once more and headed out to the car where Stiles was waiting for him.

At home, the pack crowded around Stiles and he smiled for them. “I’m just gonna go upstairs and lay down for awhile, ok guys?” He said and headed upstairs without waiting for a reply. The bedroom was the one place he knew they could not follow and he closed the door behind him. He pulled off his clothes and left them on a pile on the floor. Derek would glower at him but right now, he didn’t care. He crawled on the bed, purposely laid on Derek’s side and pulled the blanket that they kept at the foot of the bed over him. It used to be his mother’s and he remembered being wrapped up in it with her. Surrounded by the blanket that was his mother’s and curled up on top of the blankets and pillows that smelled like Derek, he fell asleep.

~~~

“Are you serious?” Lydia said, her voice low and deadly.

Derek nodded. They were outside on the deck and Scott was manning the barbecue. Well he was, but now he was just staring at Derek in shock. “Dude, you’re gonna burn those.” Derek said.

Scott turned back to the grill and flipped the chicken over. The babies were in the playpen next to Allison. They were all three in underneath a shaded umbrella and were all staring at Derek like he had lied to them about something very important.

Isaac turned and marched for the front door. Boyd grabbed him. “Dude, where are you going?” He asked.

Isaac looked confused. “To get a knife. I said I would slash their tires.”

Derek shook his head. “I know we want to retaliate but the whole world isn’t ours to-” He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He pulled it out and frowned at the unfamiliar phone number there. “Hello?” He asked.

“Hi, is this Derek Hale?” A vaguely familiar female voice asked. Scott and Allison exchanged a look. “Yes.” Derek said slowly. “What can I help you with?”

“This is Barbara Elmer. We spoke earlier, you were sitting with Mr. Stilinski-”

“Oh, right. Barbara.” Derek nodded. Lydia hurried to his side and he bent down so she could hear the conversation too.

“Well, I have the PTO gathered in my living room right and we have all come to the conclusion that Beacon Hills Unified District has made a very foolish decision in letting your Mr. Stilinski go. We have been over the paperwork, the test scores, spoken to parents and former students.”

Derek checked his watch. “It’s only been four hours.” He said, astonished.

“We are a formidable group when it comes to our children’s education, Mr. Hale.” Barbara said primly.

“I can see that.” Derek murmured.

“And what I said before, at the diner, I meant. I simply cannot let this stand. Gifted teachers such as your Mr. Stilinski cannot be let go of lightly.”

Derek nodded. “While I do agree Mrs. Elmer, I don’t entirely understand where this conversation is headed.”

“I believe that the PTO and I can force the district to offer Mr. Stilinski his job back.” She said primly. Derek could hear fabric rustling in the background and imagined that she was passing her palm over her pressed capris while neatly crossing her ankles. “And if this is something you and he think we should pursue, I would like to start immediately.”

Derek gaped around at everyone. Allison was standing next to Erica, demanding an explanation.

“I, uh-”

“Yes, you idiot!” Lydia hissed at him. “Tell her yes.”

“If you think that could be possible, then please. Do whatever you need to.” Derek said. “And if you need anything, please let me know. My family is-” He cleared his throat. “My family is backed by the Hale Trust, as I’m sure you know, and anything you need please just let us know. We are at your disposal.”

Mrs. Elmer made a pleased sound and Derek heard soft _applause_ in the background. “We will keep you updated, Mr. Hale.” She said before hanging up the phone.

Derek stared at the phone in his hand as it went dark. He looked up at his pack members.

“That woman is terrifying.” He said and slid his phone back in his pocket.

~~~

Derek climbed into bed that night and found that Stiles was on the wrong side of the bed. He didn’t nudge him or try to get him to move. Instead, he arranged himself over Stiles and curled around him, trying to protect him from anymore hurt.

“I’m going to need to go into my classroom and empty it out.” Stiles said as Derek settled in next to him. “All the stuff that we bought for them. We gotta go get it. They can’t have it.”

“We’ll take care of it. All of us. We’ll go with you.” Derek promised. He heard the others shift throughout the house and knew they were silently agreeing.

“It feels like I got dumped by a longtime girlfriend. Like someone I thought I could spend the rest of my life with.” Stiles said.

Unbidden, Derek felt a growl rise in his chest and his canines lengthen. He pulled away from Stiles and fell back on the other side of the bed and closed his eyes. He mentally pushed the wolf part of him back and down.

_What the fuck was that?_

“Derek?” Stiles said.

“Sorry.” Derek said, feeling his teeth shrink back to a human size. “It just makes me mad that you have to feel this way and there is nothing that I can do about it.”

Stiles rolled over and curled next to Derek. “The whole world isn’t our pack. We can’t force our ways on it.”

Derek smiled at the words they had repeated to each other over the years. “But wouldn’t it be easier if we could?”

Stiles smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it would.” Stiles reached for him and pulled him back near him. “I would like to see Derek Hale tell Mr. Yancy Jacobs a thing or two and not have to get the police involved in it.”

Derek chuckled and resumed his sleeping position. “We don’t want to have to call your dad to another crime scene.”

“No.” Stiles agreed. His good mood vanished, the levity in the room gone. “What am I going to do now, Derek?” He asked.

Derek pushed himself up on his side and propped up on an elbow. “What do you want to do?” He asked.

Stiles shrugged. “Work with kids. I love it. It’s what I’m good at.”

“Do you want to work at a school?” Derek asked.

Stiles chewed on his lip and shrugged. “Are there other options?”

“There are other schools, yeah, of course. But there are other options for teachers, right?” Derek encouraged.

“Like what?”

“Centers for kids. Like, supplemental help sort of thing.” Derek said.

“There’s nothing like that in Beacon Hills.”

Derek raised his eyebrows.

“Are you saying that I should start something like that?” Stiles asked. Then he snorted. “I couldn’t possibly- I mean, I would need a building and all the necessary supplies - and like, it can’t just be me - I would need people, employees, volunteers, vetted teachers- I mean-” Stiles huffed. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” He asked.

Derek shrugged. “Listen, Stiles. You are a good teacher. A fantastic teacher. Everyone but the people you work for know this. There are grants out there to help you build this place of your own, to make it something that you have control over. You know six other college educated people that could take this on with you. I’m not saying you need to make a decision right now, or even if this is something that you want to do.”

“But the business-”

“Could run itself by now. We could hire out accountants and sales people and that would be that. Our pack could give something to this community after everything that’s happened to it. I’m just-” Derek shrugged again. “I just think it’s a thing that maybe you want to think about.” He settled himself more closely around Stiles. “Go to sleep now. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

~~~

The next morning there was a knock at the bedroom door. Stiles groaned and pulled Derek’s bicep over his eyes. “Make it go away.” He muttered.

“Go away.” Derek said to the door, not opening his eyes.

“Derek, dude. There’s someone the phone for you. She said it’s important.” Scott said.

Derek groaned and rolled off the bed. He jerked the door open and Scott was standing there, his phone in his hand. He glared at him and took the phone.

“Hale here.” He growled.

“Mr. Hale, Mrs. Elmer here.” An overly pleasant voice said. Derek glanced back at Stiles and stepped forward into the hall.

“Mrs. Elmer. What can I do for you?” He asked.

“Well, I wanted to let you know that the ladies and I will be heading out to central office this morning. We plan on picketing and have several people joining us. I’m sure you have your hands full with Mr. Stilinski but if you or any of your family would like to join us, we would be more than happy to accept the company.”

Derek nodded. “Of course. I will let everyone know and you can plan on seeing us out there.”

“Always great speaking with you, Mr. Hale.”

“You as well, Mrs. Elmer.”

They hung up and Derek nodded to Scott. They headed to the kitchen where everyone but Stiles was.

“The PTO will be out in force this morning in front of central office. Mrs. Elmer has invited us out.” Derek said. “Lydia?”

“Let’s take them lunch. Once we get there, we can figure out what else they need.” She said. She looked at Derek. “You might want to stay here though and talk Stiles through this. He doesn’t know, does he?”

Derek shook his head. “No, we haven’t talked about it.”

Lydia gave him a small smile and nodded at the stairs. “Go on. We’ll take care of this.”

Derek nodded and poured himself some coffee and watched as they ran around the house, getting everything together. Derek tossed the SUV keys to Allison as the guys got the babies in their car seats and they all dashed out the door, waving goodbye to Derek.

Derek headed back up the stairs, toast and coffee in hand. When he opened the door, Stiles was at the big bay window, curtains pulled aside. “Where did everyone go?” He asked.

“They had something they had to take care of. Come sit with me.” Derek requested.

Stiles turned and looked at Derek, coffee and toast in hand. He raised his eyebrows and sat down.

“Yesterday, at the diner-”

“I’m sorry about Barbara. Her and the ladies mean well, but they have been going on and on about my good looking boyfriend for months now and it just got to the point that I stopped correcting them.” Stiles looked down at the cup in his hands, his fingers wrapped around it. He had a hangnail and Derek could see where he had been chewing on his nails. “And yesterday I was really not up for correcting her, so I-” He shrugged.

Derek was confused. “Oh! No.” He shook his head. “That wasn’t it-”

“That didn’t bother you?” Stiles asked.

Derek blinked several times and looked at Stiles. How could he ever be bothered by being paired off with someone like _Stiles_? Someone kind and good and smart and funny-

“No, that wasn’t it.”

“So it did bother you.” He said flatly, his fingers tightening around the cup.

“No! It didn’t bother me and that’s not what I’m wanting to talk to you about.” Derek took a deep breath and realized he was still in his boxers. He briefly thought of getting some other clothes on but figured it was a stupid idea anyway. “Why would it bother me?” Derek asked suddenly, cocking his head. He studied Stiles and could smell the nervousness wafting off of him. “Did it bother _you_?”

Stiles shook his head. “People have been waiting for me to declare my undying homoerotic love for Derek Hale for years, man. I sleep in your bed. _Your_ bed. I share your house, I see you every day and fucking look at you, man. If anyone was bothered to be paired off with you, they would be an idiot. A blind idiot. A blind, deaf idiot with no sense of touch. A blind, deaf, idiot with no sense of touch who has no sense or morality.” Stiles looked up from his coffee to see Derek _blushing_. “Dude, you know how I take my coffee and when you are out on a run, it’s so hard to sleep without you snoring in the bed across from me-”

“I don’t snore.” Derek said.

“Yeah, ok, buddy. Keep telling yourself that.” Stiles said. “No, it doesn’t bother me. But I always thought that it would bother you.”

Derek shook his head. This was not how he thought this conversation would go but it was certainly revelatory. “Are we-? I mean have we-?” Derek stopped himself. They had long ago blurred the line between friend and something more. Derek rarely made decisions without Stiles, especially when it effected the rest of the pack. When there was a threat, his first thought was Stiles. He had convinced himself that it was because Stiles was human and had not been raised like Allison had and didn’t always think first of his well being like Lydia did, but the reason was-

Well the reason was looking him right in the face with big brown eyes that were begging for an explanation.

Stiles took a long drink of the coffee in his hand and then set it down on the night stand next to him. He turned to look at Derek once more but instead of filling the silence with words, he waited.

“You are the first thing I realize in the morning.” Derek said slowly, cautiously. “You are the one person that I allow in here, where I am the most vulnerable, where someone could hurt me. I wait to hear about your day because I think it’s important, because you are important. Its hard for me to remember a time when you weren’t somehow at the edge of my thoughts.”

Stiles pursed his lips and looked down at his hands. “When you’re out, running or fighting, I tell myself that I can’t sleep because you aren’t here. And that’s part of it. But the bigger part is that I worry about you. I know you’re the big, strong Alpha and you can take care of us and you _do_ take care of us, but, Jesus, I worry that you’ll fall and hit your head or something.” Stiles laughed softly at that and even Derek quirked his lips. “I worry that something like the alpha pack will come back for you and take you from me.” He rubbed at his mouth and he studied the blanket on the edge of the bed. “Not from the pack, from _me.”_

Derek nodded. He felt the difference.

“And I don’t know where that leaves us. You’re my best friend.” Stiles looked up at Derek, studying his face. Derek nodded for him to go on. “You take care of me in ways that I didn’t think I would need. And that’s more than friendship, dude. I mean-” Stiles shrugged. “Actually, I don’t know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean.” Derek said softly.

Stiles gestured to him. “And that’s it. That’s it right there. I know you know what I mean. So where does that leave us?”

Derek chewed on his lip. “I don’t know. Do we want to- I mean would it be any different? If we were?”

Stiles shook his head. “I sleep in your bed. You bring me coffee. How would it make it any different?”

Derek set his cup on the side table and looked out the window that Stiles stood in front of. They had a huge lawn that everyone but Lydia and Allison took turns mowing. They had picnics out there and the babies fell asleep underneath umbrellas out there. On their porch, Stiles would pull Derek out to the swing and make him sit with him on rainy nights while Stiles read out loud from books he had picked up from the library. He told Derek it was because he was warm and Stiles need a warmth as he was only human. Stiles had fallen asleep on Derek so many times in the living room that now no one even tried to sit next to the two of them anymore.

And Derek wasn’t an idiot. He saw how his betas deferred to Stiles in his absence or when he was unable to make decisions. It wasn’t said out loud, but they treated Stiles like he was the second in command, like he was-

Like had always been Derek’s mate.

Stiles was standing by the window still and watched Derek as he stood and looked across the bed at him. Stiles blinked at the sudden transformation, from the guy that Stiles complained to, to the Alpha, his eyes red.

“Derek?” Stiles asked.

There was no reply but the low growl that Stiles always knew meant trouble. He took a step back.

“Derek.” Stiles said.

Derek stood between Stiles and the door and the only way out was the window behind him. The window that was too high to jump out of.

“Don’t.” Derek said in a low voice.

“Ok, but you’re kind of worrying me.” Stiles said. He eased back a step and then two more as Derek approached him. He took a deep breath to slow the beating of his heart but it didn’t help. He had seen Derek _kill_ people.

Derek approached him slowly and Stiles felt the wall at his back.

“It wouldn’t change.” Derek said and he lowered his head. Stiles, still searching for something to hold onto, did what he felt was most natural.

He turned his head and offered his neck to Derek, the ultimate sign of submission in front of an Alpha.

The rumble in Derek’s chest heightened momentarily and Stiles felt Derek’s mouth and breath on his neck, his teeth at the tendon and the vein there. Stiles closed his eyes and let out a breath. He made himself relax and slid a hand up to Derek’s chest and over his heart. He reached up behind Derek’s neck and threaded his fingers through Derek’s hair. Derek scraped his teeth along Stiles’ throat and it shouldn’t have been hot because Stiles knew how dangerous he could be; Stiles had seen him kill things with his bare hands, with those teeth pressed against his throat but he knew that Derek would sooner kill the rest of the pack than hurt him.

“If this is a change,” Stiles said softly as Derek pulled him closer and licked at his throat and nosed at his ear, “I can do ok with a change like this.”

Derek pulled back and Stiles saw that his eyes were the impossible blue-green-gray that they normally were and his teeth were human-like again. He pressed forward into Stiles and kissed him, chaste and sweet, the opposite of what he had done just moments ago. Derek lingered for a moment over his lips, tasting coffee and chapstick and something sweeter, like honey and chocolate, that was just all Stiles.

“I like this.” Derek said, his forehead against Stiles’. “But this is not what I came up here to talk to you about.”

“Really?” Stiles huffed. “What was your segue gonna be?”

“Mrs. Elmer.” Derek laughed.

“Way to kill the mood.” Stiles said and pushed him back. Derek crowded him again, already aching for another kiss. He took two more, chasing after Stiles for a third. Stiles laughed at him and caught his face in his hands, pulling Derek in for one more. “I didn’t think you would be the affectionate one. I thought I would have to beg for kisses.”

“You’ve thought of this?”

“In an abstract way.”

Derek hummed. “No. No, now that we are here, it’s the most natural thing to just-” Derek pulled Stiles closed and put his face in the crook of Stiles’ neck, kissing and tugging at his hair so he could have better access.

“Is this a wolf thing or a Derek thing? Or an Alpha thing?” Stiles gasped.

“I like the way you smell. You smell like candy and laundry and the ocean but you smell like me.” Derek licked a long stripe up Stiles’ neck. “You smell like my pack but I want you to smell like _mine_.”

Stiles let out a whimper.

“But that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.” Derek said, panting now. “Keep your hands to yourself so I can tell you this.” Derek ordered. Stiles nodded and would have stepped back but he was still up against the wall.

“Mrs. Elmer. She talked to me yesterday after you left the diner. She thinks that she can force them to offer you your job back.”

Stiles tilted his head to the side and looked up at Derek. He didn’t say a word.

“So I went ahead and made the decision. I told her any help would be awesome and if she needed us-”

“Derek.” Stiles said softly.

Derek shut his mouth and looked down at his hands. “I should have asked you. That was stupid. I’m sorry.”

“No. Hey, no that’s not it all.” Stiles said. He raised his hands to Derek’s face. “You take care of us. This was you taking care of me. Thank you.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“No. But I just don’t want everyone getting their hopes up either.” Stiles said. “I get that Mrs. Elmer is influential-”

“That woman is terrifying, Stiles.” Derek said.

“But this was a decision made at the top of the board. It probably won’t happen.” Stiles shrugged. “It sucks, but like you said, there are options.”

Derek nodded. “Ok. But do you want to go to central office? They are picketing there and they invited us down.”

“They’re _picketing?_ ”

~~~

When they drove up to central office, Derek had been expecting ten to twenty people in front of the office.

What he saw, was quite different.

On one corner was Susan, selling cold bottles of water with a much smaller clone of herself smiling and talking to adults. Susan was taking money from the people walking by and her daughter was giving each person a bright smile.

On another corner was Deborah, with two children and one teenager. The teenage girl was dressed in a Beacon Hills High cheerleader uniform and the two younger children were all bright smiles as they sold baked goods. Deborah was in a deep conversation with two men, both nodding at her words. The cheerleader was out in front, handing out fliers to those passing by.

In between them was Barbara Elmer, flanked by at least fifteen people on each side, all armed with fliers and signs. People were approaching them cautiously, slowly and were being drawn into their cause, sucked in by whatever invisible force that Barbara exerted. Her young son was at her side, his young face eager and vehement with their cause and all his small words.

All in all, the crowd numbered close to fifty.

“Jesus Christ, Derek, what did you _start_?” Stiles gaped at the crowd.

“I didn’t-” Derek started. He just shook his head. “What the fuck.” He muttered. He spied Isaac and Scott, each with a child in a backpack, walking among the crowd. They got out of the car and headed towards them.

At the same time, Isaac and Scott turned to them, their eyes flashing a momentary blue.

“God, you guys could have at least showered.” Scott said, rubbing at his nose.

“I didn’t think it would be like this.” Isaac said, making a face.

“What are you talking about?” Stiles asked.

“We can smell him all over you, bro. It’s like knowing your mom just got laid.” Scott said.

There was that low rumble from Derek and Scott shut his mouth. “What’s the news from here?”

Scott and Isaac shrugged. Talia was asleep in the carrier and Daniel was watching Derek with barely open eyes. “Not much so far. We’ve been shown a lot of support. There is talking about Channel 4 News coming down here in a bit. Mr. Jacobs has yet to show his face-” Isaac was interrupted by the man himself throwing open the door and storming across the sidewalk, straight to Mrs. Elmer. His face was red and Derek could hear the uptick of his heart when he saw Stiles, Derek, Scott and Isaac. He pointed at Stiles as though to say, _I will deal with you later_ and continued on his path to Mrs. Elmer. Scott and Isaac started towards her but were stopped by Derek. “Wait. Let her people handle this.”

They both stopped in their tracks and their hands were fisted at their sides. Erica and Boyd were on the side closest to the baked goods and looked to Derek for direction. He shook his head. Two women crept closer to Barbara, undeterred by the look on Mr. Jacobs face.

“You all need to clear out of here!” He shouted, spit flying from his mouth. Barbara and the others took a step back to stay out of range. “You are disturbing those of us who work for a living-”

“Actually, Mr. Yancy, it’s a constitutional right for us to be here, peacefully protesting what we believe is a huge detriment to our children’s education and welfare.” Barbara said pleasantly.

“This is private property. I can have you all forcibly removed!” He continued on as though Barbara had not spoken.

Barbara glanced over her shoulder at the statuesque brunette to her side who stepped forward.

“No, it’s not. Well, the side of the sidewalk that you are on is, yes. But as long as we stay clear of this line here,” She said and tapped at a divot in the sidewalk with her very expensive looking pump, “We are on public property. And as you can see, not a single one of us has crossed that line.”

“Who’s that?” Scott asked.

“Marcia Jameson. Civil litigation. Her and Barbara have been best friends since high school.” A man to their left murmured. He offered his hand to Stiles. “Michael Elmer, Barbara’s my wife.”

“Nice to meet you. These are my brothers, Scott and Isaac. Their kids Talia and Daniel. My partner, Derek Hale.” Stiles said. Isaac and Scott exchanged looks at the last introduction but said nothing.

“Mr. Hale. Nice to meet you.” Michael said, shaking his hand.

“You as well. Mrs. Elmer is quite the spitfire.”

“She’s actually slowed down, if you can believe it.” Michael muttered.

“Dear god.” Derek said softly.

“So, as much as you would like to get us to leave, short of calling the police and somehow getting them to deprive us of our rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, this is beyond your control, _Yancy_.” Marcia spat.

Barbara smirked.

“But please.” The other woman, who looked to be the spitting image of Barbara picked up, “Do call the police, I have a feeling they would like to know what’s going on here.”

“There are ordinances that you are breaking,” Mr. Jacobs said, raising a finger.

The other woman pulled out a piece of paper from a portfolio in her hand. “There are no noise restrictions in this place nor are there any buffer zones in place by the state of California or Beacon Hills city. So, as of right now, no we are not.”

Mr. Jacobs snatched the paper out of her hand and turned on his heel, jacket flapping in the wind, face the color of an eggplant.

“That’s Barbara’s younger sister, Judith. She’s in law school. Hopes to get a job here with Marcia.” Michael informed them.

The others nodded and Barbara waved at them. She came over and gave Stiles a hug and shook Derek’s hand. “Thank you so much for coming out. I know this is probably not where you wanted to be after yesterday’s-” She paused and put her fingertips to her lips, “Fiasco. But we appreciate you coming out anyway.”

“Ah. Well, no it’s no problem. Derek just told me this morning what was going on, exactly. So…” Stiles shrugged as he trailed off.

Barbara narrowed her eyes. “You don’t think it’ll work?”

Stiles hesitated and chose his words carefully, repeating what he had said earlier to Derek. “I just don’t want everyone to get their hopes up, is all. What you are doing here-”

“Is no less than what you deserve.” Marcia interrupted, her heels clacking loudly on the cement. “What they have done is illegal, I imagine.”

“Aren’t you a lawyer? Wouldn’t you know if this is illegal?” Isaac interrupted.

Marcia regarded him with a confused look for a moment. “Isaac Lahey, Stiles is my brother.” He said.

“It’s a different kind of law specialty.” Marcia said, reaching out to stroke Talia’s cheek gently. “She’s beautiful.” She said, adjusting the tiny yellow cap on Talia’s head to cover her better.

“Thank you.” Isaac said.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Derek asked, looking around. “Anything that you might need?”

Barbara glanced around. “I don’t think so. Some corporate attention might be nice, but even my power only extends so far.”

Derek hummed in agreement and glanced around. “It’s hot out here, is there anything else you might need?”

“No, I don’t think so. Your girls were so lovely to provide us with these umbrellas but I honestly can’t think of anything else we might need.” Barbara insisted.

“Ok.” Derek said. Derek, Scott and Isaac turned at the same time to see a three police cruisers, all with their lights on turn slowly down the street.

“Janet.” Marcia called out. The cheerleader from the other table turned back to her own and pulled out another portfolio and ran it over to Marcia. Deputy Parrish and Deputy Cortez stepped out of the first cruiser and the Sheriff stepped out of the second one. Behind him, Deputy Martinez stepped out and much to everyone else’s surprise, Agent McCall stepped out of the same one.

“Dude.” Stiles said. “When did your dad get here?”

“I don’t know.” Scott said, looking confused.

“Son.” Sheriff Stilinski said, approaching their ever growing group. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened?”

“It just happened yesterday.” Stiles muttered, kicking at the ground. He shrugged. “I spent all day in bed. I was gonna come over today but-” He gestured around.

“The Sheriff is your father?” Barbara asked, a note of glee in her voice.

“He is.” Stiles said, nodding.

“We just got a call from Mr. Jacobs about rioters.” The Sheriff said, looking around at the group of soccer moms, children and otherwise peaceful citizens milling around and discussing the Stilinski firing. “But, uh-”

“I think he was exaggerating.” Parrish picked up. He held his hand out to Derek. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

“Good. Well, I mean.” Derek looked around and shrugged.

“Yeah.” Parrish said. “Can I speak to the person who is in charge here?” He asked politely, glancing around.

“That’d be me.” Barbara said. She stuck her hand out. “Barbara Elmer.”

“We can see that he is given to-”

“Lying?” Isaac prompted.

Parrish smirked. “I wasn’t going to say it but. Well.” He shrugged. “But I’m sure you ladies are aware of the paperwork that needs to be filed in order to hold a demonstration like this?”

“Yes.” Marcia said, unzipping the portfolio that Janet had just handed her. She pulled out a packet of papers and handed them over to Parrish who began to scan them. They were all neatly clipped together, filled out with precise and neat handwriting. “I believe everything is in order.” She said.

Parrish snorted and handed it over to Agent McCall who came striding forward. He waved it off. “I’m not here for that.” He said. He approached Isaac and crouched down to see Talia’s face. He planted a kiss there on her forehead. He went over to Scott and did the same thing. “God, they are beautiful.” He muttered, completely ignoring the protest going on around him.

Parrish handed the paperwork over to the Sheriff who barely glanced at it. He trusted that Parrish knew what they required and had more than met the standards. This was not his first run in with Mrs. Elmer and knew that the way she ran her PTO made some governments envious.

“Everything is fine.” The Sheriff muttered. “You checked your zoning areas?” He asked.

“As long as we stay on the sidewalk, it’s fine. There are no noise ordinances.” Marcia added.

John shrugged and watched as McCall continued to coo at Daniel. “Oh for the love of god.” He muttered. He strode over to Scott, unstrapped the baby from the baby backpack Scott was wearing and held him for a second. Then he handed him over to Agent McCall who looked positively radiant at having his grandchild in his arms. He walked over to where Allison and Lydia stood, near the baked goods and smiled at them brilliantly.

Derek turned to the front as the door was thrown open again and Mr. Jacobs stormed out onto the sidewalk, his face as red as a tomato. Derek listened to his heartbeat and shrugged it off. If he killed himself with a heart attack, Derek would lose no sleep over it.

“Sheriff! I want these people arrested and removed from my premises!” He screeched, pointing at the neatly dressed women gathered on the sidewalk.

“On what grounds?” The Sheriff asked, glancing around.

“Disturbing the peace!”

“You called about rioters in front of the central office’s building. What we actually have here is a peaceful demonstration with all the paperwork in order.” The Sheriff said, raising the packet of paper in his hands. “There are no noise ordinances in the area and frankly, there is no rioting by the legal definition.”

Mr. Jacobs sputtered for a moment, “They have no legal right-”

“They have _every_ legal right, Mr. Jacobs.” Parrish interrupted. “The first amendment grants them the freedom of speech and here we have a peaceful gathering. This is the very point of the first amendment and neither Sheriff nor myself are going to risk this city a lawsuit because we deprived citizens of their constitutional rights.”

Mr. Jacobs spun to look at Mrs. Elmer. “This was a board decision that I cannot rescind on my own.”

“While I understand that this is a decision that cannot be undone by a single person,” Mrs. Elmer said, drawing herself up to her full height, “I also understand that this is a decision that has put my son’s education at risk. And I prize my son’s education above more than anything else so until this decision is fixed and Mr. Stilinski has his job secured once again, free and clear of any other ridiculous stipulations, you can expect us out here.” Mrs. Elmer regarded Mr. Jacobs with an air of disgust. “And if Mr. Stilinski is not offered his job back, I will resign from PTO and take every single person with me. It will then be our one and only mission to make your professional life much more challenging.”

"You greatly overestimate your strength here, Mrs. Elmer."

Mrs. Elmer cast her eyes downwards to her shoes. She glanced up at Mr. Jacobs and nodded. There was a glint there and Stiles took a step back behind Derek along with Scott and Isaac.

"All right, Mr. Jacobs. If that's how you want to play this out." She nodded, straightened her shoulders. She pulled out her phone.

"Hi, Grace, this Barbara!" She paused and nodded. "I did here, actually there is a picketing line outside the central office for Mr. Stilinski. Well, I was just calling to ask if we could have your support on the matter." Barbara waited a moment and nodded. "Thank you, darling. Terrific. We still on for lunch Thursday? Wonderful, darling. See you then." She pushed a button on her phone. "There goes your free art teacher."

Mr. Jacobs glared at her but didn't say a word.

"Another, shall we?" She asked. She scrolled through her phone but her husband interrupted her. "Honey. Let me talk to Dave." He said.

Her face brightened. "That would be great."

Michael pulled out his phone and dialed someone up. "Hey, Dave. Yeah, Mikey here. Yeah! We're out here right now." He paused and nodded. "Barbara did, yeah. Well she's here right now if you want to get the team down here." He nodded. "See you in a few." He hung up and regarded Mr. Jacobs for a second more before speaking. "The union will be down here momentarily."

A van down the street stopped and people began to pile out. Stiles squinted. "Those are my co workers." He said. Six people piled out of the van and a truck pulled up behind them. More people piled out of the truck, five total. They began pulling signs out of the back of both vehicles and joined the others on the sidewalk. Another van pulled in and another eight people came forward. They had signs as well and one of the eight people, Harris Sherman, came forward. In his hands, he had a thick pile of papers.

"Mr. Jacobs." He said. He barely glanced around at the others that were gathering around him. Stiles watched the crowd that was gathering around him and couldn't help but feel his throat tighten. He looked up to Mr. Sherman as a mentor, someone that was there with a quick joke when the days got hard. He was an older gentleman, on the verge of retirement with a shock of white hair and glasses that were always sliding down his nose. He was a good man, a good teacher and a good friend. "I would like you to take these contracts back. If Mr. Stilinski is being forced out of his job, then we will no longer be working for the Beacon Hills Unified School District either." He pushed the pile of papers into Mr. Jacobs chest, barely giving the man a chance to gather the papers. "You will find nineteen letters of resignation there."

Barbara's mouth dropped open. Everyone else looked around uneasily.

A news van pulled up.

"Oh my god." Stiles squeaked. He reached for Derek, looking to hold onto something steady. Mr. Jacobs tracked Derek wrapping his fingers up in Stiles' and Marcia watched him.

"You know," Marcia began casually, "It's illegal to fire someone for their sexual orientation in the state of California. And even though that might not be what this is about, you can bet your ass that I will drag your name through the mud for it."

The nice news anchor that Stiles liked joined the crowd and the cameraman was right behind her. Derek tightened his hold on Stiles and Isaac lifted Talia out of her carrier to hand to the Sheriff. Isaac could feel it just as much as the rest of the group could. They were gearing up for a fight.

Mr. Jacobs turned and retreated once more. Over his shoulder he called out, "You aren't the only one with a phone, Barbara."

He shut the door and the news anchor zeroed in on Barbara. They began speaking quietly in low tones and Stiles loosened his grip on Derek. Marcia joined the group with the news anchor and Michael did as well. Derek turned and lowered his head. Scott cocked his head to the side and Isaac frowned.

"Can you call your mom to come get the babies?" Derek asked softly.

Scott pulled out his phone and motioned to Allison.

"What's going on?" Stiles asked, feeling queasy. He was almost ready to let them take the job from him at this point. The words Marcia had said were ringing in his ears. He had never been out with anyone before, barely had acknowledged the whole thing himself, but now that everyone knew-

He wondered if he had inadvertently stepped into something bigger.

"Jacobs is calling the local evangelist." Isaac said softly after it seemed that Derek was unwilling to speak. "He is gathering his own protest because you and Derek are a thing."

Stiles opened his mouth and glanced over at his dad, who was leaning in on their conversation. "You and Derek are a _thing_?" He asked his eyebrows, knitted together. He turned to Lydia who had just approached the group. "They're a thing now? Like an official thing that I can finally acknowledge and stop pretending didn't exist."

She nodded. "Yes, sir. It's a thing that we can all acknowledge."

Stiles had never seen his dad looked so relieved. The Sheriff looked like he wanted to cry. He pulled Derek forward into a hard hug and Derek stumbled for a second. "Oh, thank god." He muttered. Stiles could see the tips of Derek's ears turn pink.

"It's not a big deal-"

"Shut up." The Sheriff ordered, still holding him tight. "Just shut up, Hale." He finally let him go with a hearty clap on the shoulder and a small smile. "Claudia would have liked you, Derek."

There really wasn't much more to say on the matter.

Scott hung up his phone and him and Allison joined the group. The pack, with the approaching Boyd and Erica with the Sheriff as well, stepped away from the rest of the protest. Agent McCall saw them gathering around and extricated himself from the group of mothers that had gathered around him and Daniel. As soon as everyone was gathered close, Derek bowed his head. "Jacobs is calling the local evangelist. I don't know if that's the right term. The guy who is always protesting the gay weddings?" Everyone nodded. "That guy is going to start his own thing. He's bringing his own people. The administration is obviously not going to come out and say they fired Stiles because he's gay, because that's a huge lawsuit. But these guys are going to come down and make it about that. It's going to get ugly. Scott?"

"My mom is coming down here with for the kids. She's taking the night off, so she can keep them tonight. Sheriff, could you stay with her? Or assign someone to her house?" Scott picked up as he and Isaac began to unbuckle the carriers off their chests.

The Sheriff nodded but frowned. "You don't think-" He started.

Derek shook his head. "I don't want to think about it but it's better to be safe than sorry with the cubs." Stiles blinked. Derek had never called them that before. "If it's a money issue, I can hire some of your best out of my own pocket, not a problem."

"I know they won't turn down overtime, but your incentive won't hurt either." The Sheriff said. "I'll stay with her as well. I'm sure McCall will too."

Rafe, who was now delightedly holding both twins and grinning like an idiot, only nodded. "Yeah. Whatever you need." He began to coo at the babies. "Your grandpas are going to shoot anyone who comes near you aren't they? Yes they are! Yes, they are!"

Scott opened his mouth but Isaac clapped a hand over his mouth with a look. Scott didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure how ugly this is going to get." Derek continued after watching Rafe speak in baby tones to the twins about killing bad guys that got to close to them. "But I don't think it's going to get violent. Keep it close to the vest and watch the hands and eyes. If you need to, step away. We would rather you be at home then in jail after being filmed on tv eviscerating a bigot. Clear?"

Everyone nodded. It had long stopped being a pack secret about the pack. Rafe knew and some of the deputies did as well. Parrish was in on it and had come to the pack's aid more than once.

"I'd like to go with the kids, if that's ok." Allison said, looking over to Isaac and Scott. They both nodded.

"Good idea." Derek said. "Erica, I'm not gonna say that you should go too, but I would really appreciate it."

"I should go because I might tear someone's head off." Erica said.

"All right." Derek said. "Head to the house, get what you need. The Sheriff will follow Melissa back to her house. We'll stay here." Then he hesitated. He turned to Stiles and reached out with his fingertips to trace his wrist. "You don't have to stay. Give an interview with the news anchor, she's waiting. Then you can take the car and leave."

Stiles shook his head. "I'm staying."

There was an anxious look on Derek's face. "Stiles-"

"Nope." He said shaking his head. "Staying."

Derek nodded after a moment. If he had insisted, Stiles would have left but now this was turning into something much bigger and if there was anything anyone knew about Stiles, he didn't back down from bullies, in whatever shape they came in.

"Excuse me," The nice news anchor interrupted. Lydia and Erica parted, to let her in. "I was hoping that you would be willing to talk? Mr. Stilinski, correct?"

Stiles smiled and Derek was sure that he was the only that saw the slight tremor. Maybe the Sheriff. "Yeah, that's me." Stiles said, stepping forward and offering his hand. She grasped his warmly. "But please, call me Stiles."

The woman smiled. "I'm Denise." She said.

Stiles laughed. "I know, I think everyone here knows." He turned. "Um, these are all my friends. Actually, they're more like siblings. Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, Scott McCall and Lydia Martin." They all shook her hands, charming her easily. "And this is my boyfriend, Derek Hale."

The woman blinked and it seemed to take her a moment. She eventually shook Derek's hand and turned back to the camera man over her shoulder. "Does this look as good as I think it does?"

"Oh yeah." The man said, watching through the lens of his camera.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"Well, I was going to ask to speak to just you but if your boyfriend would be willing to sit with you, that would make it even better." She leaned forward and whispered, "It's an emotional pull that will have people chomping at the bit." Everyone heard her, of course.

"I would be happy to." Derek said. He was wearing a white and gray shirt, the colors contrasting delightfully with the rest of him. Stiles was in a blue and gold Beacon Hills Unified shirt and both wore jeans. They looked casually confident and very pretty.

"Great." Denise said. She gestured to her camera man. "If you'll follow Teddy here he can get you set up with mics." Stiles turned to everyone and nodded. They dispersed, everyone following the directions they were given. Allison brought the babies over to say goodbye to Derek and Stiles before getting in the car with Erica. Parrish followed them and Rafe and the Sheriff left in another vehicle. The remaining deputies stayed where they were, looking around warily. They had been informed that there was a group of counter protesters headed their way. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it could be.

Soon enough, Derek and Stiles were settled in chairs the small shaded lot across from the central office. Denise sat across from them in another chair, crossed her ankles and smiled at them. "Breathe, Stiles. This is going to be awesome."

Stiles nodded and smiled. Denise opened her mouth to ask the first question but was interrupted by several large trucks pulling into the parking lot across from them and large men exiting the trucks and SUVs and other vehicles.

"Ah." Denise said and nodded. "The union was here. I was hoping they would get here before those other assholes did."

Derek and Stiles turned to her, surprised.

"I have to have professional objectivity while on the air. We are definitely not recording." She said, gesturing to the camera. "And I have done enough coverage on those other assholes to know, definitively, they are assholes."

Derek let out a laugh. He slipped his hand in Stiles' and Stiles could feel himself relax.

"All right." She said, her eyes twinkling. "Let's get started."

~~~

That night, Derek and Stiles sat in their room, watching the interview. "Do you think they fired you because you are gay?" They heard Denise ask.

Stiles had looked down at his hand, one of which was wrapped up in Derek's. "I would like to think not." Stiles said, pitching his voice low and soft; vulnerable. "My relationship with Derek has nothing to do with my ability to teach. They offered me another job, outside of the classroom, that I did not want. My strength is in the class with those kids. My performance reviews and test scores back that up."

Denise hummed before turning to Derek. "And you, Mr. Hale. Your family is widely known and respected. What is your take on this whole matter?"

Derek had pursed his lips and glanced over at Stiles. "I think they are fools to let him go for whatever reason. Because of their-" Derek had stopped himself and take a deep breath, "Of their shortsightedness, children who would have Stiles as a teacher now will not and will suffer for the lack of it. The science and figures and numbers and kids and parents back us up on this. It's a fact; plain and simple."

The interview ended shortly after, cutting to the counter protesters that had arrived. They were disorganized and seem to lack a clear message. Where they shouted and screamed, Barbara's side was calm. The children that had been there earlier were removed and now, it was only the parents of children and other teachers that remained. At one point, Deputy Cortez had to arrest one of the protesters for spitting on Barbara and her husband, for punching the man. Marcia had left to follow them to the station.

There had been name calling, screaming horrible and ugly things, but Derek had remained surprisingly calm and silent. Scott, Isaac, Boyd and Lydia had a much harder time. At one point, Derek had to catch Lydia around the waist when she tried to go after a woman their age for calling Lydia something unspeakable.

But they were home now and Barbara had given them specific instructions to stay at home the next day. Stiles turned to Derek. "Well. That's one way to introduce us to the world."

Derek chuckled and nodded. "Go big or go home. The Stilinski model for coming out."

"And what's the Hale model? To brood and glare and brood some more?"

"I got you, didn't I?" Derek asked, rolling over and throwing his arm and his leg over Stiles.

"I can't breathe!" Stiles gasped. Derek gripped him tighter and bit gently into his shoulder. Stiles yelped. "Don't give me werewolf cooties."

Derek snorted. "If there was such a thing, you got them a long time ago."

"You are an unpleasant human being."

"Not a human." Derek reminded him.

Stiles sighed. He slipped his hand into Derek's and brought his palm up. He kissed the tips of his fingers and laid one in the center of his palm. He curled Derek's fingers around it. "Keep that." He ordered.

"Ok." Derek said. Then he flipped over and offered Stiles his other hand. Stiles raised his eyebrows. "I have to match."

Stiles rolled his eyes but did the same for the other hand. Then he rolled over on his side and looked Derek in the eye. "Can I tell you a secret?" He whispered.

"You don't have any secrets. Not from me." Derek whispered back.

Stiles was stunned silent for a moment before realizing that Derek was right.

"Can I tell you something?" Stiles amended.

Derek traced Stiles' eyebrows and his cheekbones lightly before meeting his eyes. "Yes." Derek whispered back.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Stiles said.

"Good." Derek whispered. "Me either."

"So are we just a couple of idiots just wandering around, bumping into stuff in the dark, hoping we get this right?" Stiles asked, his hand on Derek's collarbone now.

"It's called being an adult."

"Shit." Stiles said.

Derek laughed and kissed Stiles. He kissed him and he kissed him until Stiles was breathless and arching into Derek and Derek began pulling their clothing off, until they were both naked and hot and pressing into each other. Stiles ended up on top of Derek, kissing his mouth greedily and then his jaw and he worked his way down to Derek's neck where Derek went completely still, his hands falling to the sides.

"Derek?" Stiles whispered. "Did I do something?"

Derek whimpered but didn't say anything. His eyes were closed.

"Derek," Stiles said, pulling back. "You gotta say something man."

Derek opened his eyes and they were bright red. Stiles pulled back.

"No, no. It's not like that." Derek said, pulling Stiles back on top of him and he groaned. He bared his neck once more and Stiles leaned over and licked it.

"What is it?" Stiles asked.

"I just- it's submission. To let anyone that close." Derek said.

Stiles kissed his collarbone. "It's not. Not for us. I'm yours. Your mine. We don't submit to each other. We belong to each other."

Derek growled and Stiles liked the feel of it under his lips.

~~~

The next morning, Stiles dragged himself out of bed around eleven o'clock. Derek was still asleep when he left the bedroom. Everyone was already hard at work and Isaac glared at him for getting to sleep in late. In the kitchen Lydia looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't go out in public today without seeing me first." She advised. Scott turned to see what she was talking about and choked on his coffee. Allison laughed.

"What?"

Scott gestured to his throat and Stiles went to the bathroom downstairs.

Derek had _marked_ him. There were hickeys everywhere. "Oh my god." He whispered.

"A little foundation and powder and you'll be fine." Lydia said from the doorway.

"Do you see this?" Stiles asked.

"The Hubble can see that." Erica remarked dryly.

"We have more important things to talk about than the fact that you got laid last night." Lydia said.

"Coffee." Stiles said.

Lydia sighed.

An hour later, the pack was gathered in the great front room, ready to hear what Lydia had to say. "Well, this is what it comes down to." She said. "Stiles can have his old job back as long as he signs a confidentiality agreement. Or, there are offers pouring in from, quite literally, the nation. And Belgium. Belgium offered Stiles a job."

"Holy shit." Stiles said.

"Yeah, but I figured you didn't want to commute so you've got offers from The Academy, Childress, Lincoln Academy, Overview Prep and Beacon Hills High."

"Holy shit." Stiles said again. "But those are all upper grades." He said.

Lydia shrugged. "I only present to you reasonable offers. And you can always sign the agreement and go back to your classroom."

Stiles chewed on his lip. "Beacon Hills High." He finally said. He nodded and stood. "That's the one."

"Really?" Lydia asked.

"Really." Stiles confirmed. He stood and nodded to them.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asked.

"Now I have to go fucking study for a new certification." Stiles said and left the room.

~~~

_**Three Months Later** _

Stiles wanted a vacation. Somewhere where he and Derek and could lay out on a beach underneath the warm sun and he wouldn't have to answer one more fucking question about the Crucible. He pulled his car into the drive behind Allison's and parked. The SUV was gone but everyone else's car was there. He hoped Boyd was making dinner tonight.

He grabbed his new messenger bag from the seat next to him, and headed inside. It was pretty quiet for almost everyone being at home. He threw his bag on the desk in the office and headed upstairs. Once there, he went into the closet and changed into a tshirt and jeans, pulling on his shoes. He glanced at the bed, neatly made like Derek liked, and saw his mother's favorite throw on the floor. He frowned at it and stepped forward. He plucked it up off the ground. It was weird. He had had one freak out years earlier and Derek had became fastidious about the thing never ending up on the floor. Derek had said that it was a matter of respect. He stopped and listened for a long moment. There were no sounds which was impossible. Not in this house. Not where eight people and two toddlers lived. He spun around and looked back down at the driveway. The SUV was gone but everyone else's car was there.

"That's pretty fucking strange." Stiles muttered.

He grabbed his red hoodie off the chair and headed downstairs. "Hey guys?" He called out.

One of the twins screamed.

That should have brought _everyone_ running.

He turned to the living room/dining area and stopped short when he saw a man there with Talia in his arms. Daniel was in a high chair next to him. The man had Talia's small face pinched between his fingers. She was crying and hiccuping and reaching for Stiles.

"What do you want?" Stiles asked.

"We were just waiting for you to get home, honey." The man said, sickly sweet.

"Ok. I'm here. Put her down." Stiles said.

The man, surprisingly, obliged and put Talia in the high chair next to Daniel. Stiles risked a looked around the room. It was completely trashed.

"Who are you?" Stiles asked.

"We're here to show Argent what happens when he doesn't obey the rules." The man snapped and pulled out a gun. "And we're here to take Hale down. He's getting too big for his own good."

Stiles held his hands above his head and started to cry. He shook his head. "Listen, just let us go, me and the kids, and you won't hear from-"

"Shut up!" The man said. The twins started to cry.

Stiles began to sob, letting the sound get louder. "They aren't wolves. You know they aren't. I'm human. I can't- dude, I'm just a teacher-"

The man strode forward and placed the gun to Stiles chest, "I said shut up!"

Stiles stopped crying like a switch had been thrown. He grabbed the gun and threw himself backwards, so that the man's chest was to Stiles' back and the gun was aimed away from the kids. Stiles began shooting, wasting as many bullets as he could. When the man began to struggle, Stiles threw an elbow into his face, hoping to catch him in the nose. Then he wrapped his arm around the other's man's forearm and snapped his wrist like a bundle of sticks. The man fell to Stiles feet, grasping for his wrist. Stiles turned, kicked him in the chin and sent him sprawling. The man's broken wrist fell to the wooden floor with a thump and he howled.

The twins screamed with him.

Stiles stepped forward and put his foot on the man's broken wrist and ground down. The guy went white and it took only two swift hits of the barrel of the gun before the man was out cold. The twins screamed louder and reached for him.

It broke his heart that he backed away and left them, however momentarily to go into the garage. He pulled out his phone and dialed his dad.

"Hey, son, now's not a good time-"

"Daddy, dad, dad I need you. I need you to come to the house. Now. Please, with everything." Stiles begged as the began tearing the garage apart. He was having a hard time remembering to breathe and it was just like his mother's funeral when everything threatening to go black at the edges of his vision and his heart wasn't beating anymore.

"Stiles-"

"Dad, now, please!" He shouted and hung up.

He dialed Melissa. "Hey, Stiles-" She started.

"Melissa, I need you. I need you now, at the house, please. Hurry. Bring- oh god, I don't know. Please. Just bring what you can." His words were tumbling over each other and he was crying but god, he had to find them and he had to fix this and the babies-

"Ok." She said tightly and hung up.

Finding what he finally needed, Stiles dialed a third number.

"Agent McCall here." Rafe answered smoothly.

"Rafe, it's Stiles." Stiles said, his voice trembling and guttural now.

"Is everything ok-" He started.

"No, everything is fucked. We need you here now." Stiles said.

"On my way." He said.

Stiles hung up and made his way into the living room. The man was where Stiles had left him. Stiles tied him up cruelly and efficiently, pulling the cords tight around the man's wrists, hoping he was cutting off circulation. Finally Stiles was able to stumble over to the twins who were whimpering now. He picked Talia up first and then Daniel, pulling them to his chest and collapsing on the floor. They clung to him, their little nails digging into the flesh at his neck.

"Hey. Shhhh. Hey, it's ok." Stiles said softly, trying to calm his own racing heart. "I'm here. I got you. And then when Grandaddy gets here and Poppa they are going to take you with Gran. Yeah. And then you guys are going somewhere where they can't find you. And it'll be fun." Stiles kissed Talia's cheeks and Daniel's forehead. "And it's gonna be ok. Grandaddy is going to make you marshmallow men like he used to do for me. And Gran? Yeah, she's going to spoil you-"

Stiles stopped mid-sentence when he heard the door slam open.

"Stiles!" His dad yelled. He rushed in, Parrish and Cortez at his back and Rafe pulling into the drive behind them, lights flashing. His dad stopped when he saw the living room and the kitchen. Furniture was overturned, broken. There was blood on the walls, and a man tied up on the floor. "Stiles?" His dad asked.

Stiles shook his head and Rafe came into the room. Cortez checked the guy on the floor.

"What the fuck-" Parrish asked.

"I came home and that guy had the kids. He said he was gonna kill them and me because Argent made the wrong decision and Derek was getting too big for his own good." Stiles said in a rush. Melissa came in, carrying a bag and stopped when she saw everything. Stiles was still sitting on the floor, the twins in his arms. They were all crying. "I broke his wrist and then I put him down like you and Derek taught me." Stiles said, speaking to Rafe now.

"Where are they?" Melissa asked softly.

Stiles hadn't dared asked the question. He just shook his head and held the twins closer. They whimpered and clung to him harder.

"Baby, can I have the twins?" Melissa asked softly.

"They were alone with him." Stiles whispered as Melissa approached him slowly. "He had them and he had Talia's face-"

"Shhhh." Melissa said, reaching out and cupping Stiles' face. "We're here now."

"My pack isn't." Stiles whispered. "They're gone."

"We'll get them back." Melissa said, reaching for Daniel gently. He went with her easily enough but clung to her just as hard as he did with Stiles. She looked up at the Sheriff. "Clear the table for me." She said. The sheriff did as he was asked and Melissa checked Daniel swiftly, finding nothing more than a bruise on his arm. She gathered him up in her arms and kissed him over and over. "Hey there, big boy. You are so brave. You are so much like your daddies." She whispered. "Oh, you are so big and brave and perfect." She said to him. "Rafe, come see if he'll go with you." She said softly. Rafe approached slowly and held his arms out. Daniel hesitated at first but went. Rafe held him close.

"Ok, Stiles. Can I see Talia?" Melissa asked.

Stiles nodded but when he tried to hand her over, she began wailing once more. It took a few minutes and the Sheriff interceding, but eventually she went with Melissa but refused to be held by anyone else, clinging tightly to Melissa. Her face was bruised where the man had been pinching her and there was a suspicious knot at the back of her head, but she seemed physically ok.

The Sheriff turned to Stiles. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

The man on the floor moaned. Cortez kicked him viciously in the ribs. Two years previously Stiles, Scott and Derek had been groomsmen at his wedding. Everyone stared at Cortez.

"Was I not supposed to-?" He asked, gesturing to the man.

Stiles shrugged. "What's one more broken bone?"

"Stiles." The Sheriff said.

"I need you to take the cubs." Stiles said softly. "And I need you to get them out of here."

"I can't do that! I can't leave! Three quarters of my family has been kidnapped by crazy people!" The Sheriff said.

"I'm going to find them." Stiles said, a plan formulating in his head. "But right now, I need you and Melissa and Rafe to go. I need you to take them away."

The Sheriff was already shaking his head. "No, Stiles, I'm not leaving here without you."

"And I'm not going anywhere without knowing where everyone else is." Stile said, his anger getting the best of him. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "You three are the only ones that I trust with them. You can handle a gun. Rafe can help. Melissa can fix it if they get hurt." Stiles raised a hand to push his hair out of his face. "Dad." He whispered. "If we don't come back from this, you three are the ones that will have to be there for them."

The Sheriff's face contorted and he looked down at Melissa and Talia and then over to Daniel. "Don't ask me to leave you, Stiles." The Sheriff said, choking.

"Please." Stiles begged.

The guy at their feet moaned and turned his head to cough.

The Sheriff looked so lost. "Where are we supposed to go?" He finally asked.

Stiles let out a sigh, relieved. "Come with me." He said.

Upstairs, Stiles opened a small box on his dresser. He pulled out a single silver key on a leather band and handed it to his dad. There was a small piece of paper at the bottom of the box and he gave that to his dad as well. "Derek bought us a cabin. It's up north. Those are the coordinates. You'll need a truck or something with four wheel drive to get to it." They turned as Melissa came up the stairs and went into the nursery next to Allison's room. "No one knows about it, not even the rest of the pack. It has everything you need for a couple of months but-" Stiles dug in his drawer and pulled out small gold and black book at the bottom of his sock drawer. "These are a list of all the places Derek owns. He keeps them hidden for times like this. The keys are taped to each page. Each house has a desk. Each desk has a false bottom with money in it. Keys to vehicles."

Stiles realized his hand was shaking, like the first time Derek had handed him over this information.

_"Why would I need all of this?" Stiles asked, brow furrowing._

_"It's like insurance. If I can't protect you and there is something after me, they'll be after you. The fastest way to break an Alpha is to break his mate. Right in front of him. Do you see what I mean? If something happens to me, you have to run." Derek said, his fingers tracing Stiles' wrist._

_"Yes. But they won't get you." Stiles insisted. He shoved the book underneath his socks._

_"I'm an Alpha, Stiles. I'm not invincible."_

_"Yeah you are. Like Superman." Stiles said._

_Derek laughed, his eyes wrinkling._

"We'll be at the cabin." The Sheriff said. Stiles nodded and started for the door. "What are you going to do? You don't know where they are."

"He does." Stiles said and headed down to the living room.

Parrish and Cortez were sitting the guy up as he began to regain consciousness. "Could you guys take him into the bathroom? Cuff him to something in the tub?" He asked.

The two exchanged a look but did as Stiles asked. Stiles went into the garage and found the pruning shears that Isaac used and a mallet he had bought earlier in the year. Then he went into the kitchen, found a bottle of fish sauce that was kept triple bagged in the pantry and the biggest bottle of ground cinnamon they had. He made his way into the bathroom and squeezed by Cortez and Parrish. He laid out the four things he had in his hands on the counter next to him and crouched over the guy's legs in the tub.

"So." Stiles said. "Here's the deal. You tell me where they took my pack and you'll leave here in cuffs."

The guy spit in Stiles' face. Stiles punched him in the face and then kicked him in the ribs where Cortez had landed a hit earlier. Then he calmly crouched over the guy's legs again.

"Want to try that again?"

"Fuck you. I'm not going to tell you anything."

Stiles nodded and stood. He reached for the mallet, sat down on the guy's leg and grasped the arm with the broken wrist. He looked up at the officers still in the room. "You guys should probably leave. Plausible deniablitiy and all that."

They both shook their heads.

Stiles shrugged and as the guy struggled, Parrish stepped up and helped to hold him down. Stiles brought the mallet down on the guy's wrist. He screamed and tried to claw for Stiles but Parrish held him back.

"You feel like talking yet?" Stiles asked.

The guy screamed again, his wrist now just a mash of skin and tendons and bone. Stiles shrugged and raised the mallet again.

"You're supposed to be the human one!" He screamed.

Stiles stopped and looked at the guy. "That means I'm the worst one to take something from. Don't you see?" He dropped the mallet and stepped out of the tub. The guy was weeping. Stiles reached around Parrish for the fish sauce. "You ever taste this?" Stiles asked, showing the guy the bottle. The guy didn't look up. "It's awful. Like, the worst thing that we've ever had in the house. A drop or two is more than enough in a dish served up to the ten of us." He opened the bag and popped the top off. Parrish was already opening the guy's mouth and Stiles upended the bottle in the guy's mouth and helped Parrish keep his mouth closed when more than half of it was down the guy's throat. The guy gagged and shook his head but they kept his mouth shut for several minutes, until they were sure that the liquid had coated the guy's tongue. Cortez quickly bagged it back up.

"Will you tell me before I have to get the shears?" Stiles asked, reaching for a towel. He had gotten some blood on him from earlier.

"1616 W Lake Street." The guy muttered. "They have them all in chains in the back." The guy raised his hand, his eyes red and tearing up. "Now please kill me."

"Nope." Stile said, getting out of the tub and heading for the sink.

"You owe me!" The guy screamed, spittle flying everywhere.

Stiles snorted. "I'm going to leave you right here for Allison. And I'm going to tell her how you handled her baby girl. And then we'll see what she wants to do with you."

Rafe, Melissa and the Sheriff were waiting in the hallway, bags at their feet. Stiles approached them slowly. "Keep your phones on. Unless it's me, don't answer." He said. He kissed Talia and Daniel once more.

Their faces were grim but they didn't have the words. There was not much to say that they hadn't already said. The last that Stiles saw of them was the lights of Boyd's truck leaving the driveway.

~~~

"Cortez, can you stay here? Guard that guy?" Stiles asked.

"You don't want me to go with?" He asked.

Stiles shook his head. "You've got a family. Little one on the way. Stay here, make up a story if it goes to shit." Stiles turned to Parrish. "You don't have to go, but I could use the back up."

"I'm fucking going." Parrish said, baring his teeth.

"Dude, what _are_ you?" Stiles asked once more.

"Really hard to kill." Parrish said.

Stiles laughed. "Follow me."

They headed up to Lydia's room where all the best selling weapons and current prototypes were kept under lock and key.

"I've wanted to ask her out." Parrish said, looking around the room.

"Once we rescue her. Take her out for French. Somewhere nice. She'll like that." Stiles said, keying in a code and stepping back as a wide panel swung up. Stiles pointed to the left. "Best selling weapons. Guns, knives, ammo, bows, arrows, take whatever you need."

Parrish began loading up on the weapons while Stiles studied the right side of the panel where all the prototypes were.

_"What's this?" Stiles asked, picking up a cane. "I didn't know we had a line of walking sticks."_

_Lydia and Allison snorted. Allison took the cane from him and pushed an indent that felt like a natural part of the stick. A blade flipped out of one end. She pushed an other indention and the opposite end of stick lit up blue and electricity crackled._

_"And it's inlaid with all kinds of runes to keep the user safe." Allison pointed out._

_"And it's made from quebracho. Hardest wood we could get our hands on." Lydia said, taking the cane from Stiles' hands. "Custom order but I wanted two of them. One for reference in case we got questions later on."_

Stiles flipped the cane in his hands. "I'm ready." He said.

Parrish looked up from where he was strapping a thigh holster on with a gun tucked neatly into it. He had a rifle with sights on it and more knives and guns on him than Stiles had ever seen a person carry.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Parrish asked. "You're taking a stick?"

"Carry a big stick, my friend." Stiles said with a wink. "So, here's what I'm thinking..."

~~~

Stiles drove up to the warehouse and frowned. He hated warehouses. There was not a single good thing that came out of them when his pack was involved. He got the cane and leaned on it heavily, favoring his right leg. The only questionable part of his plan was this part. Leaving his Jeep and walking into the warehouse. He knew that it would be manned and he knew that if he gave up his secret too soon, his chances of getting into the back of the warehouse would be much smaller.

But much to Stiles' surprise, there was no gunfire and there were no guards at the front of the warehouse. Stiles jerked the door open and it lunged open with a screech. Oh well. He wasn't here in the front of their hideout for a surprise attack. He leaned heavily on the cane, praying that these guys weren't as invested in research as he and Lydia were.

The warehouse was bisected by three heavy walls, one hallway connecting all of them. Stiles passed by each door slowly, worried that someone was going to jump out and kill him. There was no one.

He began to question the honesty of the guy he tortured.

Stiles finally came to the door at the far end of the hall, lit up by a single bare bulb. He patted his pocket, making sure he had his lock pick with him. But the door opened easily underneath his hand, without even the screech of earlier. When he entered he saw his entire pack chained to meat hooks, lifted up so high that their toes barely brushed the ground, all their weight on their respective shoulders.

They weren't alone, of course. There were four other men and two women in the room, each pacing by a pack member. Clothing was shredded, their faces were bloody and torn, and the wolves were coughing up that black stuff that indicated they had been poisoned by wolfsbane.

When he entered the room, Lydia screamed and began to kick out, as though she was trying to get him to leave. The woman in front of her yanked her hair back viciously and held a knife to her throat. Scott managed to look up blearily but there was hardly any recognition in his gaze. Isaac was slumped over and Erica and Boyd were unconscious. Allison was currently receiving a beating and when Derek met his eyes he moaned. He knew what Derek was saying, could practically hear him hiss it in his ear:

_"I gave you a way out, you idiot!"_

Stiles leaned heavily on his cane as the hunters regarded him.

"We were going to let you go." One said, with a scar on his face. Stiles named him Tony in his mind.

"How gracious of you." Stiles said, his voice flat.

"You're human. You aren't poisoned by them." The woman behind Lydia said.

"I'm the alpha's mate." Stiles said. "You really think I was just going to cut and run?" He rolled his eyes.

"You would think a human would choose the side of his own people. You would think that a human-"

"Oh god, are you going to monologue? If you are, can someone bring me a chair? Jesus, I thought this was going to be quick." Stiles complained looking around for a chair. He backed up an inch and there were there near silent _pops_ from above him and the woman holding Lydia fell, the one near Boyd and Erica fell and the man by Allison fell. Perfect shots, all of them.

He smiled at Tony who advanced on him. "Did you think I was going to come without a friend?" He asked. Another hunter fell but then there was a struggle from above where Parrish had situated himself. He sighed when he saw the high powered rifle drop next to him and shrugged. The other one, who was white and wore a white tank top and therefore earned himself the nickname Dough Boy, charged at Stiles. Derek woke then and roared, his voice shaking the room, and waking the pack to full consciousness. Isaac whimpered when he saw what was happening and Boyd tried to pull against his chains.

Stiles stepped out of Dough Boy's way, flipped a switch on the cane, revealed the knife and slammed it first into Dough Boy's stomach and as he tripped and fell, into the back of his neck. Stiles turned his face as the blood fanned out around him, and looked up. "Third cervical. He won't be able to move anything below his chest. If he doesn't bleed out first."

Tony pulled out a gun and Derek roared again, shaking the walls again. It seemed to throw Tony off, how powerful Derek sounded. He shouldn't have, he shouldn't have sounded that strong with wolfsbane running through his body but he did. Then Stiles noticed something interesting. Everyone was wearing their human face, except for Derek who was full on Alpha now, red eyes and teeth and claws. Boyd and Isaac looked confused, pulling at their chains. Then Derek roared again, and he sounded even stronger.

Derek looked like the only wolf in the room.

Scott whimpered but didn't articulate what was happening. There was a pull, somewhere and it charged the room like nothing any of the pack had felt before.

"You think a little bark is going to scare me?" Tony asked, smirking at Stiles. But Stiles could spot a bluff from a mile away. "This little Argent wolf whore is going to pay for spreading her-"

Stiles didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. Instead he switched his hold on the cane and using it like his trusty bat, swung at the man's face but only caught him the shoulder.

"When my alpha gets out, he's going to tear your tongue out of your mouth." Stiles swore.

The man ducked beneath it and tackled Stiles to the ground. He landed a few good hits that left Stiles gasping for breath and there was Derek again. The pull in the room was leaving Stiles dizzy and the only one unaffected seemed to be Tony as he raised his fist and it landed squarely on Stiles' jaw. Everything went dim for a moment but when he turned, he saw Lydia with her eyes closed.

 _That's sweet. She doesn't want to see me die._ Stiles thought.

But then he saw that wasn't it. She was whispering something and Stiles finally caught her whisper before another fist landed on his ribs.

"Give it to him. Give it to him." She was whispering.

And then the weight of the man was off his hips and Derek was there, black stuff no longer leaking out of him, eyes red, wounds healed, and angrier than Stiles had ever seen him and that was quite the statement to make. He forced the man to his knees but did not hit him.

When Stiles turned to the rest of the pack, their wolf face were back, they were healed, and snarling.

"Stiles." Derek said, his words slurred because of the canines that were currently cutting into his lower lip. Stiles turned and Derek offered him a set of keys. He unlocked everyone and Scott and Isaac knelt by the guy, holding his arms. Stiles and Lydia lowered Allison slowly to the floor. She seemed to have gotten the worst of the beating. Stiles tried to get to the source of the bleeding but there was so much that he couldn't figure it out. Stiles turned back to where the guy was trying to fight, to pull away but then Erica came over, pried his jaws open and Derek reached in.

And tore his tongue out.

Stiles turned and gagged. "Dude, theatrical threats. I didn't think you were actually going to do it."

Derek turned, confused, the man's tongue still in his hand. "It seemed like a good idea."

"Dude, put the tongue down." Stiles ordered. Scott and Isaac abandoned the guy and made their way to Allison. Stiles handed her over to Isaac and looked up at the cuffs that Derek had been chained to. They were snapped in half, like they were Styrofoam, not reinforced steel.

"How did you?" Stiles asked looking up at the cuffs and then Derek was pulling him close.

"I hate you." Derek said and kissed him. "You are an idiot and I hate you and I think you are the worst human being that has ever walked the planet and why don't you _ever_ listen to me?"

Stiles almost swooned like a Jane Austen character but batted Derek away and pointed to the cuffs. "How did you do that?"

"Did you feel it?" Erica asked from the floor where she had ripped the guy's shirt and was currently packing his tongue away. "Like someone was pulling us towards Derek?"

Stiles nodded and watched as she stuffed the guy's tongue in his pocket. He was still alive and breathing but hardly anyone was paying attention. Parrish came through the door.

"Derek pulled from all of us. He took all the strength that we all had, borrowed it, broke the locks and-" Erica gestured around. "Here we are."

"Did you give it back?" Stiles asked.

"I did. I just needed it for a moment." Derek said, running his hands up and down Stiles' sides and nuzzling his neck.

"Where are the twins?" Isaac asked, from his place on the floor.

"Dad, Rafe and Melissa have them. I sent them somewhere." He said, looking up at Derek. Derek nodded.

"Were they ok?" Allison asked, standing and joining them with Scott's help.

"Bruised. Talia had a bump on the back of her head. But they seemed ok otherwise." Stiles nodded at Allison. "The guy who had them is chained up in the downstairs bathroom. I thought you might want to discuss with him proper childcare technique."

"You deserve a cupcake." Allison said. She winced as Scott helped her up. They all turned and watched as the guy tried to climb to his knees. Boyd kicked him in the stomach and then dragged him by his arm over to Derek's feet.

"What do you want to do with this guy?" Boyd asked.

"Me? Nothing." Derek said, nudging the guy with his foot. The disgust on his face was evident. Stiles knew Derek didn't look at pieces of shit with that much disgust. "This is for Allison, Scott and Isaac." He said, pulling away and bringing Stiles with him.

Allison nodded to the door. "I can wait until we get home. I'll leave this for the guys." She said. Erica scooped her up and headed for the door. The last thing they heard before Lydia shut the door behind them were the screams of the dying man and the snarls of Scott and Isaac.

~~~

On the way home, Stiles called his dad and they agreed to meet them at the house. Once there, Melissa took a look at Allison, judging that she did need to go to the hospital.

"Ok." Allison said, nodding. Her hair hung in sticky ropes around her head and one of her eyes was swollen shut. She had Talia in one arm and Derek was helping Daniel sit up in her lap since one of her shoulders was unable to support any weight. "Yeah, I will. I just need to do one thing before we go, ok?" She said.

Melissa hesitated.

"You would do it if this happened to Scott." Allison reminded her.

Melissa relented. Allison handed Talia over to Stiles and asked for Erica to help her to the bathroom. "Lydia?" She called. Lydia, looking for all the world please to be included, trotted after her friends. Cortez opened the door for them and Lydia shut it behind them. Talia curled herself into Stiles and Derek took them all outside.

~~~

_**Seven Years Later** _

The pack healed. Over and over again. They kept each other grounded and sane. Stiles continued to teach at Beacon Hills high and one day, at the diner where Derek had taken him for ice cream after he had been fired, he pulled a velvet box out of his pocket. He flipped it over and over in his hands and Stiles watched his long fingers, mesmerized. Was it the box? Derek's hands?

Derek?

Whatever. Stiles Stilinski was in for the long haul. Stiles said yes to Derek and at the wedding, Scott was his best man and his father wept.

Time passed.

Stiles fell asleep beside Derek, woke up next to Derek, drank his coffee with Derek. He played with the twins and fell in love all over again when Talia sat at Derek's knee and tried to learn to control the wolf inside of her from her alpha. There were pictures all over their bedroom but Derek would always pause at the one where Stiles was passed out on the living room floor with Derek and Talia asleep on top of him, Lily-Marie Boyd on his chest and their German Shepard standing guard over them. That was Derek's favorite.

Allison was pregnant again and she swore that if it was twins again, she was going to kill both Scott and Isaac in their sleep.

It wasn't twins.

It was a little boy that they named Ethan.

Parrish asked Lydia out. He took her out for sushi. Two years later, he took her to Japan and proposed. She was going to have a little girl. She was due two days after Allison and Derek made it a rule that two of the women could not be pregnant at the same time, _an alpha can only take so much, Stiles!_

Parrish moved into Lydia's apartment after the wedding.

Derek had greeted him that first morning, with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes dark and glaring. Then he had reached forward, pulled Parrish to him so that they were forehead to forehead and Stiles could see all the worry and tension melt out of Parrish when Derek whispered to him, "“This is your home. This is your family. We are your pack.” Parrish had reached forward and wrapped his arms around Derek in a fierce hug, something that no other pack member had done with the exception of Stiles.

There was a hush until Derek returned the embrace.

Later on, Derek would explain to Stiles that Parrish had been orphaned as an infant and this was the first family he knew.

They had to build an addition to the house.

Children laughed and played and ran over the house like nymphs out of some fairy tale. Stiles was never alone. His father visited often, usually with Melissa. Which was a thing now. Like, a thing they could acknowledge, Stiles had said in a teasing tone.

Lily-Marie, Ethan and Talia took up most of Derek's attention when it came to the children. They were cubs in the truest sense of the word, having inherited the werewolf gene. Derek was patient with them and guided them through all the practices his parents had taught them.

All the children adored Derek beyond words. Stiles couldn't fault them.

Lydia's little girl was named Elena. Elena, once old enough, proved herself to be a natural at witchcraft. Stiles had never seen Derek so protective of anyone, himself included, than when a coven came for Elena. The coven left Beacon Hills. What was left of them anyway.

It was a full moon when Stiles noticed a small figure in the hall outside his and Derek's door. The children did not come into their bedroom, whether out of instinct or direction of their parents, but Stiles slid from the bed without a word and offered his hand to Daniel.

Daniel reminded Stiles so much of Scott that his heart ached sometimes.

Daniel slid his hand into Stiles' and they made their way down to the kitchen. Stiles warmed up some milk and added a bit of honey and cinnamon to it. He gave the Batman mug to Daniel because he was a good fucking uncle, and kept the Superman one for himself.

"What's on your mind, big man?" Stiles asked.

Daniel shrugged and slurped his milk.

Stiles nodded and waited.

"I love her." Daniel whispered. Stiles knew that he was talking about Talia.

"I know you do. I do too." Stiles said, his hands wrapped around the mug.

Daniel lifted his great big brown eyes to Stiles. "Why couldn't I have been a wolf too?" He whispered.

Oh, dear.

Stiles contemplated his mug for a moment. "You and me, we're the only humans here. You know? Without being raised like warriors or soldiers, without having some kind of witchcraft or something else supernatural up our sleeves." Stiles nodded at Daniel. "Just me and you big guy."

Daniel nodded.

"And I know what it's like. And I know what's in front of you." Stile said slowly. "It kind of sucks being close to someone so awesome but feeling like you aren't as awesome."

Daniel nodded and his chin trembled. Stiles pushed his chair back and opened his arms to Daniel who climbed into his lap and buried his face in Stiles' neck.

"But you are, big man. You are so awesome. And you know what? You're Talia's anchor."

"But that doesn't mean _anything_!" Daniel near wailed. Stiles caught sight of Allison, Lydia and Elena hovering near the door. He closed his eyes and shook his head at them and squeezed Daniel back.

"It means everything to the wolf." Stiles corrected. "You are the most important thing in the world to Talia. If it weren't for you, she wouldn't always be able to come back to her human form. You are her other half, Daniel. There is no one in the world like you." Stiles caught sight of red eyes outside the kitchen window. "She will always need you. You are her rock, the one thing she can count on when it gets rough. And when you get old enough, Derek will teach you all the things he knows about fighting. So will your daddies. So will your mom." He buried his face in Daniel's neck. "Don't ever think you aren't important. Or needed. Or wanted. You are all of those things. We would be lost without you." He pulled back and wiped the snot off Daniel's face with his tshirt. "You may not be a wolf, but you are so awesome." Stiles sat there and rubbed his back until he felt his breathing even out and finished his mug of milk. Eventually he stood, with Daniel in his arms and made his way to his bedroom. He laid him down on the Batman bed Scott and Isaac made him and covered him.

Outside the room, Allison hugged him fiercely. "You are so good to him."

He dropped a kiss in her hair. "He's gonna be fantastic, Allison."

That night, with Stiles curled up in his arms, Derek pressed a kiss to his jaw and then his neck. Stiles swatted at him. "Stop it. I've got work in the morning."

"But I want to ask you something." Derek said, still pressing kisses into him, but now at his chest and collarbone.

"Oh my god, Derek. What?" Stiles snapped.

Derek looked up. "The girls cornered me the other day."

"All of them?" Stiles asked.

"Yes." He shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, what? Is there something wrong?"

"No. I mean. I don't think so? No." Derek finally said, settling on an answer.

"Derek. I love you, but I swear to god-"

"They offered to be surrogates for us."

There were few times in his life that Stiles was struck speechless. When he figured out him and Derek were a thing, like a _forever_ thing, when Derek asked him to marry him, and now.

"I'm sorry." Stiles said after a long moment. "What?"

Derek sat up and looked out the window. "We don't have to. They just want us to know that the option is there for us. If we do want to. If the conversation ever- I mean, if we had the chance-"

Stiles fell back on his pillow, thinking of a little boy with Derek's eyes and his sense of humor. With Derek's dry comments and Stiles' quick smile.

"But- I mean they wouldn't be _ours_. They would belong to one of us or the other-" Stiles snapped his jaw shut. "I'm a moron. They would be ours."

Derek nodded sagely. "You are a moron."

There was silence and Stiles watched the moonlight trace the tattoo on Derek's back.

"Derek." Stiles said softly.

Derek turned and looked at him over his shoulder.

"I want to. I want to so badly it hurts. But if you don't- if it's too much- our pack is big enough already- it's ok if you don't." Stiles' words tumbled over one another and he felt like that sixteen year old in the forest, spotting the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his life.

"I want to." Derek whispered.

Stiles' eyes widened. "Me too." He whispered back.

"Are we going to do this?" Derek whispered.

Stiles nodded slowly. "I think we are."

From the different parts of the house, he heard whoops of excitement.

Stiles was home, with his family, with his pack.

 

 


End file.
